SOFTWARE RADIO TECHNOLOGY PLC
AIS Class A Agreements
Software Radio Technology plc ("SRT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
that it has signed three distributor agreements and received its first orders
for its forthcoming AIS Class A transceiver.
The agreements are with three international companies based in Europe and North
America. All are recognised players in the marine electronics market with
established brands and sales channels.
Under the terms of the agreements, the companies will purchase SRT's Class A
solutions in order to launch a new range of AIS Class A transceivers. SRT
embarked on the development of its new Class A solution in 2008 and expects to
commence shipping of fully approved product during Q1 2010. SRT will provide
customers with a low cost, small solution which is compliant with all relevant
IEC (AIS international standards committee) standards, thereby enabling them to
reduce the cost of their existing Class A offers.
The market for Class A transceivers was first created by the SOLAS mandate from
the International Maritime Organisation in 2002 which required most vessels
worldwide over 300GT to be fitted with a Class A transceiver. Recently both the
EU and US have announced further mandates which will require Class A
transceivers to be fitted to more vessels. In the EU two mandates have been
announced, the first requiring the majority of commercial vessels on inland
waterways to be fitted with a Class A transceiver by the end of 2011 and the
second all fishing vessels by 2014, thereby creating a market for tens of
thousands of Class A transceivers. In the US, mandates are expected in the
future which will require certain classes of commercial vessels to be fitted
with Class A transceivers.
Simon Tucker, CEO of SRT said, "As we reported in our recent results, this year
has seen SRT focus on the development of new technologies and products to meet
demand from the growing AIS market. We believe our Class A product sets a new
cost, size and performance standard in the AIS market and will enable new and
existing suppliers of AIS Class A products to renew and refresh their offers to
remain competitive. These agreements are the first step in commercialising our
significant investment in this product and lay the foundations for an
additional revenue stream next year."
Enquiries:
Enquiries:
Software Radio Technology plc +44 (0)1761 409500
Simon Tucker simon.tucker@softwarerad.com
Chief Executive Officer
Westhouse Securities Limited +44 (0) 20 7601 6100
Tim Feather
Matthew Johnson