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(BSNS WIRE) American Millennium Corporation Announces General Motors Pur
American Millennium Corporation Announces General Motors Purchase of 50
Satellite Systems For Fleet Deployment
Business Editors
GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2000--American
Millennium Corporation, Inc. (AMCI) (OTC:AMCI) announced today that
General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) has issued a purchase order to
AMCI for 50 Subscriber Communicators (SCs), antennas, and vehicle
interface boards to be used for tracking and communication with GM
vehicles via the ORBCOMM low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite system.
According to AMCI VP of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer
Bruce R. Bacon, "the General Motors Truck Group (GMTG) will utilize
these 50 systems for the first deployment in their fleet of test
vehicles. With one of these systems installed in the vehicle, from the
desktop and using only a web browser, GMTG's staff can see where the
vehicle is located on a map, view engine start and stop events, and
communicate directly with the vehicle's onboard data network. The
ability to have affordable worldwide wireless communication with the
electronic modules in the vehicle is revolutionary. Near real-time
access to vehicle diagnostic and operating data opens up all kinds of
pre- and post-production opportunities," Bacon said.
Additionally, Bacon noted that GMTG encompasses GM's lines of
sport utility vehicles (SUVs) such as the Jimmy, Blazer, Suburban,
Yukon, and Tahoe, small pickups, the Silverado and Sierra light
trucks, the van and utility vehicle lines, and medium-duty commercial
trucks.
"It has been extremely gratifying to work with engineers from GM,
ORBCOMM, and Dolphin Software in order to take this AMCI-ORBCOMM
remote tracking and communication solution to the next level with the
world's largest automobile manufacturer. AMCI had originally provided
two SCs to GM for testing proof of concept, which was in turn followed
by the purchase of 12 units by GM for further testing and software
development in a pilot program," Bacon stated.
"This volume purchase validates our opinion that low-cost
satellite-based solutions are the future of tracking, monitoring, and
communication with widely mobile assets. Unlike terrestrial wireless
data networks, which rely on a patchwork system of towers optimized
primarily to cover population centers, the ORBCOMM satellites pass
over the entire globe providing ubiquitous nationwide and worldwide
geographic coverage," he continued.
Andrew F. Cauthen, CEO and President of AMCI, commented, "We are
very enthusiastic about the sale of these SCs and other hardware to GM
and the following revenue from the monthly sale of airtime that goes
with each unit. This is where our recurring monthly revenue is
generated and we look forward to a continuing enrollment of
subscribers for AMCI's services. We believe that there exists a huge
market for low-cost monthly monitoring with the kind of mass-market
appeal that brings the service within economic reach of nearly
everyone in almost any situation.
"To say the least, this order by GM is a stellar event for all of
us at AMCI. It is the positive result of a lot of hard work by our
engineers and staff to achieve these creative and innovative
solutions," Cauthen said.
AMCI has previously made announcements regarding deployment of
its satellite-based remote monitoring services in the petroleum
industry. SCs have been installed on oil and natural gas production
and distribution equipment. Data such as flow rates, pressures,
temperatures, and shutdown alarms collected at those sites are sent
via the ORBCOMM system to our call center when immediate action is
required. The data is also sent to web servers for later review and
analysis by the equipment operators and owners.
To date, AMCI has deployed its systems on oil and gas wells and
pipeline stations for such companies as Griffin Petroleum, Hanover
Corporation (NYSE:HE), which operates high output natural gas
compressors for Chevron (NYSE:CHV), Cabot Oil and Gas (NYSE:COG),
Compressor Systems, Inc., and Cross Timbers Oil and Gas (NYSE:XTO).
"After much field testing and continued demonstration of AMCI's
capabilities, it is our experience that the oil and gas industry is
finally recognizing the significant savings by collecting data and
alarms remotely for a few dollars a day compared to daily on-site
visits. The benefit of nearly immediate notification of a shutdown or
systems failure is highly valuable, since in certain cases, days can
go by before the malfunction is discovered by a physical visit," Bacon
observed.
AMCI is a licensed value-added reseller for ORBCOMM USA, L.P.
that provides two-way monitoring, tracking, and messaging service
through the world's first commercial low-Earth orbit satellite based
data communications system. ORBCOMM is a partnership owned by Orbital
Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB) and Teleglobe, Inc. of Canada, (NYSE,
TSE:TGO).
This press release contains forward-looking statements that |
