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TEK DigiTel Corporation Corporate Overview

Corporate History  

        TEK DigiTel Corporation (TEK) was formed as a result of a merger of the ATC Group, LLC and Diversified Technologies Inc. in June 1998. TEK’s mission is to “capitalize on the first wave of IP convergence by developing simple, reliable and cost effective products for remote office access, telecommuters and small business.” TEK’s objectives are to develop, manufacture and market a line of access products for the communications network, primarily IP (Internet Protocol) telephony systems able to send voice and fax signals over the Internet. 

 

The Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Market            

        In order to understand the VoIP opportunity which TEK exploits, it helps to understand the status quo of VoIP today:  first, the application is live already with an estimated $150 million marketplace of  long-distance calls currently being placed over the Internet, and the industry has just gained considerable recognition with successful IPOs like that of Net2Phone (7/99).  The limitation with the current approach is that even though the call is being placed across the Internet (or an Internet-like private network), the customer has to follow a more complicated dialing procedure.  By dialing into the service providers VoIP gateway via a normal PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) call, an access code and password must be entered followed by the called parties telephone number.  This complexity coupled with the need for the service provider to purchase, install and maintain large, capital-intensive dial-in VoIP Gateways (as well as the supporting infrastructure), produces a barrier to acceptance by both small business customers and the service providers themselves.

        TEK's V-Server products counter these limitations by providing CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) that enable small business customers to connect their computers to the Internet as well as providing an integral VoIP Gateway that bypasses the local PSTN link to the service provider and eliminates the service provider's large Gateway investment.  This solution is ideal for a Small or Medium Sized Business who needs to connect to the Internet via Dial Modem, ISDN, DSL or Cable Modem access who gains two additional phone lines for VoIP based long distance calls.  The V-Server provides complete calling transparency making the procedure to place a call identical to the traditional PSTN method.               

        Looking at the opportunity from a higher level, the V-Server effectively enables a CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) to expand their delivery of "dial tone" from the small geographical area they currently support to literally anywhere in the Internet connected world.  This provides an opportunity for growth as these provider's transform themselves into VLECs (Virtual Local Exchange Carriers) and are able to compete with the customer's local phone company for the lucrative "2nd phone line" and long distance services required for a growing small business while letting the local telephone company continue to handle the low margin local calling.  In addition, TEK DigiTel's unique "Pronto" marketing program assists these VLECs to market their service and to partner with local ISPs to provide a local presence offering the Pronto service to their customer base.

 

Management Team 

        TEK has been fortunate enough to attract a management team that has great experience in the industry with a proven track record.

Chief Operating Officer, Co-Chairman of the Board and Founding Member, Thomas Yang:  20 years telecommunications experience

Chief Executive Officer, Co-Chairman of the Board and Founding Member, Enghe Chimood: 16 years telecom experience

Vice President Engineering and Founding Member, Ke-Ou Chao:  15 years telecom experience

 

Products:  Current and Planned 

        TEK’s products are designed to deliver enhanced voice/data solutions to the SOHO market. Each product/service solution, to different degrees, incorporates the following key technologies; IP routing, Voice over IP, Voice switching, Gate Keeper support and deployment.

V-Server iGate:

        The iGate is TEK’s flagship product and was first  commercialized in April, 1999. The iGate is compatible for use with ISDN, V.90 and Ethernet, when connected to an internal LAN. The device has 2 analog voice ports for connection to telephones, PBX equipment and/or PSTN lines from the local telephone service provider.

V-Server Dual Ethernet:

        The Dual Ethernet model, commercialized in 08/99, is targeted at the broadband services marketplace. It is designed for use within environments where the Internet is delivered through an Ethernet such as wireless, DSL, and Cable Modem. Like the iGate the Dual Ethernet version supports 2 voice ports.

New Products:

        TEK has been actively developing new products and services. Product release plans for 2000 include cost reduced, feature enhanced versions of the existing iGate and Dual Ethernet V-Servers, a new version with integrated PBX (Private Branch Exchange) functionality and a higher density Gateway.  As well, the company plans enhancements to their DD (Dynamic Dialing Administrator) call connection server.

 

Third Party Evidence: VoIP Market Growth 

        The potential impact of VoIP technology on consumers and the industry as a whole has analysts calling IP telephony one of the hottest technologies of the year.

 

World Wide Voice-Over-IP Forecast