Message #13 From:
NewsBot Date: July 31, 2006 07:30:00 AM
ERFW News ERF Wireless Launches High-Speed Wireless Broadband Financial Network for Iberville Bank; Louisiana Bank Wirelessly Connects Remote Branches in 11 Cities to Its Operations Center
LEAGUE CITY, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2006--ERF Wireless (OTCBB:ERFW), a provider of enterprise-class wireless broadband products and services, announced today that its ERF Enterprise Network Services subsidiary has completed an encrypted wireless financial network for Iberville Bank of Louisiana that interconnects the bank's 12 locations in 11 cities. According to ERF Wireless CEO R. Greg Smith, the design and installation of the bank's high-speed wireless broadband network, together with a recurring revenue contract for monitoring and maintenance services over the next five years, exemplifies the ERF Wireless business model. This business model is uniquely positioned to meet the annual $2 billion-plus data connectivity needs of the U.S. regional banking market where annual IT spending is on the rise to meet the increasing demand for the connectivity bandwidth required to provide new digital services to bank customers. "ERF Wireless, using its patent pending CryptoVue security system, is targeting to achieve a 10% share of the regional banking industry's annual data connectivity requirements over the next four years," said Smith.
Larry Melsheimer, President of Iberville Bank, remarked, "My customers are delighted because we can complete a transaction in seconds rather than minutes. My branch managers are pleased because this network will allow the Bank to add new services such as Voice over IP, document and item imaging at the branch level, video conferencing and a host of other new applications that improve efficiency and lower costs in our operations." Mr. Melsheimer went on to say, "Our new wireless enterprise network will not only save us more than $900,000 in communications costs over the next five years, but we also expect to save an additional $360,000 in existing courier fees, now that we can image items and documents at the branch level. The ERF Wireless system will pay for itself in less than 30 months."
James LaBauve, Senior Chief Operating Officer of Iberville Bank, said, "In my 30+ years in banking, I've been through a number of technology conversions, but never one that was as well thought out, tested and implemented as this project was by ERF Wireless." Mr. LaBauve described the experience by saying, "Early on the first day of the conversion, I stood by with my IT staff ready to deal with the countless problems that usually accompany a project of this size and magnitude. But by 11:30 a.m., not a single problem had arisen. I had to send an email to myself to make sure I was really at work!" Mr. LaBauve went on to note that Iberville Bank's investment in wireless broadband technology underscored the bank's commitment to provide an efficient, high-quality and secure service to its customers in all the parishes the bank serves.
John Burns, CEO of Enterprise Network Services, a subsidiary of ERF Wireless, commented, "I'm pleased that our production team brought this network live without any operational issues. It has been our smoothest project to date as we scale our processes and implement complex technologies across a multi-state region in a carefully orchestrated conversion plan. This is a large project that covers more than 800 square miles and involves point-to-point links with installation of two 180-foot monopole towers, one 120-foot tower, eight 100-foot towers and 34 Motorola industrial microwave dish radios. Our proprietary CryptoVue hardware and biometric encryption devices at each branch location are the real enablers that allow us to penetrate the financial services communications market." Burns further commented, "We have worked very hard to develop and certify these encryption devices that make securing these high-speed financial networks possible. We spent over three years working to address banking regulations concerning wireless enterprise networks for financial institutions and have been subjected to regulatory examinations, IT audits and vulnerability assessments as part of our certification process. This research and development effort continues to bear fruit for us and the financial industry."
Over the past three years, ERF Enterprise Network Services has implemented a number of these encrypted high-speed networks for regional banks within a three-state area. Because these ERF networks have been proven to withstand hurricanes and other natural disasters, the company is experiencing very strong interest from Gulf Coast area financial institutions that experienced severe disruptions of their communications systems during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. In addition to adopting ERF Wireless' fault-tolerant technology, financial institutions also realize there are a number of advantages in replacing higher-cost, lower-speed T1 data circuits leased from phone companies with wireless high-speed broadband networks they can own, with data throughput of up to 20mb/sec between their operations center and its branches.
About ERF Wireless
ERF Wireless Inc. is a fully reporting public corporation located in League City, Texas. The company specializes in providing wireless broadband product and service solutions to enterprise, commercial and residential clients on a regional and national basis. The ERF Enterprise Network Services subsidiary of ERF Wireless is an experienced provider of wireless banking networks throughout rural areas of the U.S. The subsidiary company, acquired by ERF Wireless in 2005, and its principals have been in the LAN/WAN, network integration, ISP, Internet banking, encryption technology and banking software businesses for over twenty years and have constructed secure, encrypted, wireless broadband networks as well as secure Internet banking solutions and other secure data processing systems for hundreds of banks across America. For more specific information regarding the ERF Wireless regional banking wireless solution, please visit our web site at http://www.erfwireless.com/ensabout.htm or call 512-352-7118. For more information about ERF Wireless, in general, please visit our web site at www.erfwireless.com or call 281-538-2101. To automatically receive periodic company information that has appeared in the media, please visit our website and join our opt-in Investor Information Program. (ERFWG)
Forward-looking statements in this release regarding ERF Wireless Inc. and its Enterprise Network Services subsidiary are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, continued acceptance of the company's products, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, the company's dependence upon third-party suppliers, intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
