Aerwav acquires Securicor Wireless

Aerwāv

, a private New York company founded last year by Securicor Wireless Chairman Robert Shiver, issued a statement yesterday to say that it has completed its acquisition of SW from United Kingdom-based Securicor plc. The transaction closed on Jan. 2.

The FCC approved the transfer of control of SW’s radio licenses to Aerwāv. Through SW, Aerwāv controls enough local, regional and national licenses for two-way radio facilities in the 220MHz band to operate nationwide on 28 5kHz-wide channels. Some of the channels are contiguous and can be combined into fewer, yet wider, channels to support higher data speeds and modulation alternatives.

In addition to FCC licenses, SW owns several regional networks of 220MHz repeaters and an inventory of 220MHz base station repeaters, mobiles and portables. SW has its headquarters in New York and an operations center in Kansas City, MO.

“[Wireless] spectrum is the most valuable resource of the New Economy,” said Shiver, who also is chairman of Aerwāv. “Our strategy is to develop our spectrum using a wireless ‘real estate’ model. Our goal is to help companies meet their wireless communications needs with low-cost, efficient spectrum access.”

The Aerwāv statement said that the company would reposition SW’s historical business model with a new emphasis on leasing spectrum to strategic partners and providing multiple voice and data services tailored to customer needs. Potential applications include telemetry, security alarm monitoring, automatic meter reading and credit card transactions. The statement said that Aerwāv anticipates entering into partnerships with other companies to develop applications and services.

“We live in a wired world, but the key to tomorrow is in the economic efficiency and the freedom that wireless communications provide,” Shiver said.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. At the time the purchase contract was signed last year, an official of SW’s parent company, United Kingdom-based Securicor, described the price as nominal. Shiver said that he funded the purchase personally.

Prior to the transaction closing, Securicor transferred to itself the ownership of an SW subsidiary, United Kingdom-based Securicor Wireless Technology, a research, development and consulting company.

Karpinski named controller

Tim Karpinski has joined Aerwāv in its New York office as controller, taking responsibility for accounting, human resource administration, tax issues, budgeting and forecasting. Karpinski previously was controller at Princeton Financial Systems.

Karpinski’s background includes work as a financial analyst for Omnipoint Communications, an account manager for Paging Network of New York and an area finance manager for Motorola.