Telit acquires Bellwave

The Italian M2M specialist Telit Communications today announced the acquisition of 75% of Bellwave m2m Co. Ltd, the machine-to-machine division of South Korean wireless communications developer Bellwave Co Ltd. The company´s m2m business has a market share in South Korea close to 50%. This acquisition thus is a key component of Telit's global growth plans and strengthens its M2M commitment in Asia. It further demonstrates Telit´s role as a challenger in the worldwide M2M market. Bellwave m2m developed and marketed the world's smallest CDMA data communications module. The company currently has 40 employees, the majority of which are engineers. The company will focus on the development of CDMA 1X and EVDO products for Asian and American markets and the development of WCDMA/UMTS products for global distribution. The company will also serve as Telit's sales gateway to the emerging Asia Pacific markets for both CDMA and GSM/GPRS product lines. The acquisition is highly strategic, especially considering that according to the latest ABI research (2005), last year over 100 markets announced they would deploy UMTS/WCDMA technology, confirming Telit's vision of the great market potential for WCDMA modules. The same research reports that the market for M2M solutions based on CDMA technology is expected to grow between 31 and 37% per year in the next five years, producing about 10 to 11 million units in 2007 alone. The deal with Bellwave thus marks another important step in the growth of the company that will now complete the array of products with CDMA/EVDO and WCDMA technologies and expand the existing distributor network that already covers more than 50 countries. The M2M products of Telit's Wireless Solutions Division offer a wide range of options tailored to different solutions and application areas. The Italian wireless expert presented the world´s smallest quad-band GSM/GPRS module in 2006 and has been one of the first companies ever to offer products that combine GSM/GPRS and GPS in the smallest possible space. The 4 different Telit module families are developed utilising the company's proprietary technology, including its own protocol stack. Commenting on the acquisition, Oozi Cats, Chief Executive of Telit Communications, said, "The combination of Telit's and Bellwave's experience will create a new force in the m2m market, capable of servicing all CDMA and GSM and in the future also WCDMA markets on a global basis. Bellwave m2m is the centre for Telit's expansion into the Asian market. The combination of Telit's and Bellwave m2m's expertise brings many synergies and benefits, most noticeably in terms of product range and geographical presence." "Thanks to our long-term experience in CDMA development, particularly for CDMA m2m since 1999, our highly-motivated team and last but not least our long-term relationship with Qualcomm - we were the first Qualcomm licensee for CDMA modules - the partnership with Bellwave will open up huge worldwide market potential for CDMA and UMTS products for Telit. Bellwave m2m, which has close to 50% market share in Korea, where the most advanced CDMA technology is trialled, brings to Telit a solid customer base in the Korean market as well as the global CDMA marketplace in the USA, China and India. We will draw advantages from this by keeping sales, marketing and customer support all located at its headquarters in Seoul", says SG Kang,designated president of Bellwave m2m co. Ltd. Based on its success in Europe, Telit will engage in the Asian M2M markets. In the latest market report "Strategic Analysis of the European Wireless M2M Market" issued by the leading m2m market analyst Berg Insight, Senior Analyst Tobias Ryberg states: "Meanwhile, Telit has emerged as the main challenger on the European wireless modules market with an aggressive growth strategy. Telit ranks as the third largest supplier of wireless M2M modules on the European market behind Siemens and Wavecom."