Ecuity and Azulstar Offer First Metro-wide Voice over Wi-Fi Service in Rio Rancho, New Mexico
May 04 2005 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Ecuity and Azulstar Offer First Metro-wide Voice over Wi-Fi Service
in Rio Rancho, New Mexico Ecuity is the Exclusive Provider of
Private Label Mobile VoIP Services To Azulstar's Wireless Broadband
Customers BELLEVUE, WA, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ecuity,
Inc., (OTC BB: ECUI.OB), a leading enhanced Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) communications company delivering solutions for the
small-to-medium business and residential markets, and Azulstar
Networks (formerly Ottawa Wireless Inc.), a leader in the
development and deployment of city-wide Wi-Fi networks, today
announced the launch of the world's first metro-wide Voice over
Wi-Fi service in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Ecuity is the exclusive
provider of private label mobile VoIP services to Azulstar's
wireless broadband customers. The carrier class phone service
developed by Ecuity and Azulstar runs directly over the metro-wide
Wi-Fi wireless network that spans more than 70 percent of Rio
Rancho. Located in Sandoval County, Rio Rancho is a suburb of
Albuquerque and has a population of 64,000. The city is often
referred as the Silicon Mesa, due to the number of high tech
companies that are headquartered there. With this announcement,
residents and businesses now have a proven, cost effective
alternative to the traditional "local loop," which has dominated
phone services and pricing for more than 50 years. The local loop
is the wiring between the central office (or telephone exchange)
and the customer's premises. Ecuity Inc. CEO Shane Smith explains,
"We are excited to partner with Azulstar in launching the nation's
largest and most advanced city-wide network for Voice over Wi-Fi
communications for residential, business and mobile phone users.
Rio Rancho will clearly be a model for next-generation voice
services delivered over metro Wi-Fi communications networks, and we
are proud of the leadership position we have built through
aggressive development of the capabilities and reliability of our
IP voice network and our suite of product offerings unmatched in
the industry." About the Service Customers can select from a
variety of fixed or mobile SIP VoIP handsets, choose a local (505)
phone number or keep their existing number. Additional features
included with all phone plans include caller ID, call forwarding
(on busy and no answer), voicemail, voicemail over e-mail,
multi-party calling, call waiting, call hold, and virtual phone
numbers. All calling plans can be used either at a fixed location
or mobile, depending on the handset employed, and client account
and billing information is accessible anytime via the Azulstar
website. The Azulstar phone service can be ordered on the
Azulstar.com website or by calling 877-AZULSTAR. Pricing for
residential phone service has been set at $29.95/line for unlimited
calling to the USA and Canada. Business telephone service is priced
at $129.95/month for unlimited calling with a free fax line and
virtual PBX software for 4 digit extensions and call transfers. The
initial version of the Azulstar mobile phone service provides
coverage within the city limits, and is expected to provide
nationwide and worldwide coverage for its mobile service within 6
months. "We're delighted with the opportunity to partner with a
technology leader such as Ecuity. We evaluated a significant number
of top VoIP companies before selecting Ecuity and their advanced
V-Tone platform for the strategic telecommunications piece of our
solution. We were impressed with the broad range of options
available with Ecuity for private label services, along with an
extremely stable and scalable network to support our anticipated
growth. We're convinced that the savings, reliability and advanced
capabilities of Ecuity's V-Tone VoIP products will prove to be a
major hit with the residential and business members of our
community," said Tyler van Houwelingen, CEO of Azulstar. Ecuity has
been a provider of end-to-end unified communication technologies
with voice and data solutions for the small- to medium-sized
business and residential markets for the past 18 years. Ecuity is
one of the first facilities-based carriers to offer wholesale
residential and business- class VoIP solutions that enable
carriers, CLECs, IXCs, cable operators, ISPs, and other value added
resellers to provide carrier-quality voice and data services direct
to businesses and consumers. Hosted IP telephony offerings include
V-Tone Office(TM) IP PBX and IP Centrex solutions for larger
organizations, Small Office, Remote Office and Residential
offerings, as well as the SmartCall(TM) mobile worker "soft phone"
and VoWiFi solutions for delivery of advanced communications
services via PC's, laptops, and Pocket PC(TM)-compatible PDAs and
cellular phones. Additionally, Ecuity offers nationwide broadband,
origination and termination services, centralized billing,
technical support and customer service. As a result of its success
in delivering cutting edge Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
services to customers nationwide, Ecuity's subsidiary Ecuity
Advanced Communications was named to the 2004 "pulver 100" - the
VoIP industry's premier listing of companies that represent the
future of the communications industry. Ecuity's innovative V-Tone
VoIP services platform is currently available for deployment in
national and international markets. For information on partnership
opportunities with Ecuity call 1-866-41 VTONE (866-418-8663), or
outside the U.S. (206) 210-5020, or by email at About Azulstar
Networks Azulstar Networks, based in Grand Haven, Mich., is a
division of Ottawa Wireless Inc. Ottawa Wireless designed,
deployed, and operates the first city-wide Wi-Fi network in the
U.S. and is recognized as the world leader in city-wide Wi-Fi
network deployments. Azulstar was formed to enable the rapid
rollout of city-wide cellular Wi-Fi and WiMAX networks throughout
the world. Azulstar teams with local governments, investors and
private companies looking to immediately offer wireless voice and
data services in their geographic areas. Additional information is
available at www.azulstar.com and www.ottawawireless.com. About
Ecuity, Inc. (http://www.ecuityinc.com) As a facilities-based
carrier, Ecuity has operated as a traditional telephone company for
18 years, providing service to thousands of customers in the
Northwest. Ecuity uses secure next-generation voice services,
instant messaging, data transfer, internet, conference calling and
enterprise software to create solutions that meet the communication
needs of today's business world. Through the integration of
web-based telecommunications and cutting- edge software technology,
Ecuity economically delivers secure unified communication solutions
that break down distance, time and media barriers to allow people
to communicate anywhere, anytime and across multiple mediums.
Ecuity has offices in Bellevue and Seattle, Washington. This report
includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The information in this news
release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based
upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been
accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties,
including statements as to the future performance of the company.
Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in
its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no
assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking
statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause
results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful
performance of internal plans, product development acceptance, and
the impact of competitive services and pricing and general economic
risks and uncertainties. For more information, please contact: For
Ecuity Inc: Jennifer Gehrt or Karen Dawson, Communique Public
Relations Telephone: (206) 282-4923 or DATASOURCE: Ecuity, Inc.;
Azulstar Networks CONTACT: For Ecuity Inc: Jennifer Gehrt or Karen
Dawson, Communique Public Relations, Telephone: (206) 282-4923, or
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