Sorry if this has been posted before, but I searched back and could not find it. Orbi appears to be in the cat bird's seat on this. Interesting news regarding monitoring of refrigerated railroad cars, oil and gas wells and ocean going containers. Seems like the sky's the limit. Again, sorry if it is old news.
Tuesday January 13, 12:55 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Energy Optics Anticipates Strong Revenues in its Wireless Business
for 1998
TAVARES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 1998--Energy Optics Inc. (NASDAQ OTC:EOPT - news) announced
Tuesday that it was close to major revenue announcements as its telecommunications division, American Millennium Corp.
(AMC), moves closer to completion of its present initiatives.
AMC, an 80% owned subsidiary of Energy Optics, announced Tuesday that it has signed a multi-phased contract with
Union Pacific Railroad to provide satellite monitoring services for Union Pacific's refrigerated rail car fleet, referred to in
the industry as ''high value assets''. Union Pacific is the largest rail company in the U.S. with over 35,000 miles of track
and over 8,000 refrigerated rail cars.
Under the terms of the contract, AMC is to provide an earth monitoring station at Union Pacific's Omaha, Neb. office.
From there, data is collected by AMC from the rail cars via Orbcomm communications satellites that report the railcar's
location, speed and direction along with up to 22 separate alarm functions regarding conditions aboard the car. That
information can then be transmitted directly to websites on the Internet so that Union Pacific's field managers and engineers
can view the data on a real time basis.
Stephen Watwood, AMC's president, noted that: ''True risk management of high value cargo becomes a reality for Union
Pacific. If a compressor running the refrigeration unit malfunctions or there is a rise in temperature aboard the railcar, an
alarm sounds that notifies the earth station via the Orbcomm satellite. The satellite, in turn, also notifies management and the
monitoring station posts the data on the website in less than 60 seconds. Without this capability, a carload of frozen seafood
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars could begin thawing before anyone would know. Our system can save a rail
company millions of dollars a year in legitimate and fraudulent damage claims.''
At a meeting with Union Pacific on Jan. 8, 1998, Watwood confirmed that the rail company's management had ordered the
five additional test units called for in the second phase of the contract. Following the anticipated successful implementation
of those units, Phase III calls for outfitting 200 additional rail cars. Phase IV calls for a ramp up to install the monitors on all
of Union Pacific's 8,000 plus railcars.
''To date, two other domestic railroad companies have requested meetings to demonstrate this applied technology and we
are meeting with Canadian Pacific Rail officials in the next few weeks to arrange a beta test for their high value cargo fleet,''
Watwood said.
AMC has an exclusive re-seller's contract with Orbcomm for the monitoring of refrigerated railcars as well as intermodel
containers for all of the U.S., according to Watwood. Orbcomm successfully launched eight additional communication
satellites from a single Pegasus rocket that was mounted beneath the belly of a Lockheed L-1011 aircraft from 39,000 feet
over the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 23, 1997 bringing the number of satellites in their constellation to ten. Orbcomm Global,
L.P., a joint venture of Orbital Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:ORBI - news), Teleglobe Inc. of Canada (NYSE and
Montreal:TGO - news news), and Technology Resources Industries Bhd. of Malaysia, plans the launch of 18 additional
communications satellites in the first half of 1998 for expanded coverage, according to published Orbcomm press reports.
Under the terms of AMC's re-seller contract with Orbcomm, AMC can also supply satellite monitoring and data reporting
for oil and gas wells and ocean going containers. Watwood said Tuesday that AMC will announce later this month field
tests to monitor remote oil and gas wells.
''Monthly charges to each reporting railcar, intermodel container or oil and gas well are insignificant relative to the value of
the high value assets each of them carries or produces,'' Watwood stated. ''Monthly revenues from thousands of fixtured
units translates to significant revenues for AMC as these installations occur. That makes AMC a telecommunications
company and not just a technology and hardware provider,'' he said.
Following the installation of the necessary software at Union Pacific's Omaha office, Union Pacific officials flew in the
field management that will be responsible for administering the risk management monitoring program. According to
Watwood, field management expressed their wish that Union Pacific accelerate the program between Phase II and Phase IV
to outfit as many railcars as possible. He also pointed out that for the first time, a Union Pacific customer can monitor his
own shipment via the Internet by accessing the code supplied to him by the railroad. Also, Watwood noted, a computer disk
record of the shipment backs up the railroad's data on the actual condition of the cargo while in transport.
Energy Optics' president, James Statham, said: ''Utility and remote monitoring was the developmental technology that was
the basis for Energy Optics going public 16 years ago. Our focus for 1998 is on the telecommunications business that AMC
is rapidly developing. We are optimistic that this year will see Energy Optics developing healthy revenues through the
expansion of its applied technology.''
Watwood did confirm that AMC had been contacted by St. Louis Railcar, the only manufacturer of refrigerated railcars in
the U.S., concerning AMC's monitoring units being installed in new refrigerated railcars as they are being constructed.
Watwood also confirmed that AMC expects to make revenue announcements later this quarter on hardware sales and
compression technology licensing. Those developments are currently under non-disclosure agreements with the companies
involved in those projects, he said.
Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that could cause the
company's actual results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in these
forward-looking statements. In particular, Energy Optics' plans may be revised, and its actual results may differ materially
from that indicated by its current plans, in each case as a result of a variety of factors, including: (i) the availability of
financing and regulatory approvals; (ii) the number of potential customers in a target market; (iii) the existence of strategic
alliances or relationships; (iv) technological, regulatory or other developments in the company's business; (v) changes in the
competitive climate in which the company operates; and (vi) the emergence of future opportunities. |
