Mr. Hickock: Axesstel has evolved into a provider of fixed wireless solutions globally, whether it's Internet access or voice. We were founded in 2000 as an engineering services company and primarily specialized in CDMA voice technology at that time. We began developing our own products in 2002 and secured a large Latin American win that put us on the map as a product company. We have since expanded to produce and market both GSM and CDMA voice products in the emerging markets, as well as Internet access devices in all the form factors that cover 2G and 3G applications. We are also moving up toward 4G on the HSUPA side as well as on the EV-DO Rev A side.
Our types of fixed wireless products have been and continue to be very applicable, and frankly really needed in emerging countries. As you know, this is due to the fact that years ago, the U.S. and Central Europe spent a lot of money developing telecommunications infrastructure by burying cables and stringing up telephone wires. In addition, as mobile took off in America, there were some really large Tier-1 players like Verizon, for example, that dominated the market. To penetrate those kinds of accounts would require a year of our whole R&D team's time and millions of dollars. And as a small company, it was not feasible to invest those resources for one account. More recently, the market has started to change and North America is beginning to open up.
TWST: Last year you began distributing products in North America. What prompted that decision?
Mr. Hickock: First, as background I would like to note Axesstel has always conducted sales in some rural areas of the U.S. However, the level was such that we considered these sales upside in our budget process.
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