THE
SERVICE
The Enterprise Network Services subsidiary of ERF Wireless
provides a turnkey design and implementation service
in the area of secure wireless broadband networks for
enterprise-class applications. In particular, Enterprise
Network Services has over the past several years focused
its attention primarily on the provision of enterprise-level
wireless broadband network design and implementation
for the regional banking industry in many parts of the
country.
This unique application of wireless broadband technology
provides regional financial institutions, with between
ten and one hundred branches, an extremely cost-effective
way to replace all of their recurring T1 and other telephone
company costs with a one-time capital investment that
can typically be recovered in less than three years.
The resulting encrypted wireless broadband network connects
all of their branches to the central bank and can provide
up to 45Mbps of continuous bandwidth as compared to the
typical 1.4Mbps of a T1 connection from the telephone
company.
The Enterprise Network Services wireless network design
is strictly for WAN point-to-point connectivity and is
not intended for “within the building” wireless
applications. Once in place, this enterprise-class wireless
network not only replaces all of the data connectivity
requirements between locations, but also has the excess
capacity to provide VoIP telephone service, video surveillance,
document imaging and Internet connectivity for all of
the enterprise locations.
In addition, Enterprise Network Services also typically
enters into an agreement with financial institutions
on behalf of ERF Wireless to resell all of their excess
bandwidth capacity to commercial and retail customers
within their coverage area under a revenue-sharing agreement,
thus further reducing the overall cost to the financial
institution. Any such revenue-sharing agreement is administered
by the Bundled Services Division of ERF Wireless.
In order to satisfy the security concerns of banking
regulators, Enterprise Network Services has developed
a unique and proprietary encryption device (CryptoVue),
consisting of hardware and software, as well as an integrated
security protocol and 24/7 monitoring, that gives it
a distinct advantage in the marketplace. ERF Wireless
does not know of any comparable type of monitored security
device being utilized in enterprise-class financial networks.
In addition, as part of the integrated security protocol,
financial institutions also enter into a long-term 24/7
network monitoring and maintenance contract with Enterprise
Network Services on behalf of the Network Operations
Division of ERF Wireless. This contract is a major part
of the overall CryptoVue security protocol and is offered
to satisfy concerns of banking regulators.
WIRELESS PRODUCTS
The wireless broadband radio equipment deployed by Enterprise
Network Services is a special commercially-hardened version
of the Motorola Canopy Wireless Platform configured to
form Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint network connections
for financial institutions that can be used in wireless
backhaul, bridging and other data applications. The Point-to-Point
configuration can span distances of up to 35 miles. Distances
of greater than 35 miles can be covered by daisy chaining
the units across multiple relay towers. The Point-to-Point
systems generally operate at 5.7 GHz and a raw data rate
of 10 Mbps, 20 Mbps or 45 Mbps with measurable data throughput
rates of 7+ Mbps, 14+ Mbps and 31+ Mbps respectively.
Motorola also offers a 5.2 GHz Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint
system that ERF Wireless deploys on short-haul segments
up to a distance of 10 miles.

Enterprise Network Services uses Motorola-authorized
and FCC-certified custom-manufactured mounting hardware,
tower struts, dishes, radomes and cabling to greatly
extend the useful life and reliability of the system.
While there may be many lower-cost transmission hardware
solutions available, Enterprise Network Services adheres
to the philosophy that only enterprise-class hardware
should be utilized in enterprise-class networks.

MARKET DEPTH
The market reach for Enterprise Network Services’ products
and services for regional banks extends nationwide and
consists primarily of financial institutions with at
least 10 branches and assets between $200 million and
$9 billion. Our statistical analysis indicates approximately
1,800 financial institutions fit these parameters.
With the advent of Check 21 imaging, VoIP and other
bandwidth-intensive applications, financial institutions
are finding that traditional point-to-point T1 circuits
are no longer sufficient to meet their data communications
needs. Upgrading their data circuits to dual T1s
(3Mb) in some locations can cost as much as $2,300 per
branch per month, plus the cost of upgraded communications
equipment and routers. A typical ERF Wireless enterprise-class wireless
broadband network can be constructed can range from a few
hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars, depending
on the number of branch locations involved as well as
the geographic locations of the branches. Thus, this
particular enterprise-class wireless broadband application
offers revenue growth opportunities that are only limited
by the number of simultaneous banking network contracts
that Enterprise Network Services can administer at one
time.
Enterprise Network Services is utilizing a project
management approach to administering these contracts
and is heavily outsourcing many of the construction functions
in order to maximize the potential for rapid revenue
growth. Over the past eighteen months, Enterprise Network
Services has successfully implemented five such wireless
broadband regional banking networks in three states.
The same general technology and implementation approach
can be applied by Enterprise Network Services to other
enterprise-class wireless broadband customers in a manner
similar to the application used for the regional banking
industry. Enterprise Network Services anticipates exploring
such other applications in the near future.
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