Leuven, Belgium – September 8, 2006 – Option N.V. (Euronext: OPTI; OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, today celebrates “20 years of Innovative Entrepreneurship”. Since its foundation in 1986, Option has been transformed from a start-up with just five employees into the global leader in the field of broadband wireless with nearly 580 employees and offices in Belgium, Ireland, Germany and Stockholm and sales and support offices in the US, Japan and Taiwan.
Today, with a share of 32.5 percent (December 2005), Option is the worldwide leader in the market for wireless PC data cards and is pioneering new market segments such as fixed-mobile convergence and wireless broadband connectivity for mobile devices such as notebooks, UM-PCs and PDA’s.
Option’s products have changed, are changing, and will continue to change, peoples’ lives by allowing users to share in the company’s vision of “anytime, anywhere access to information” via cellular networks. Leading operators worldwide, including Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, Cingular Wireless, Airtel, Swisscom and many others, offer Option devices to their own customers to empower them to view, listen, play, chat, download, e-mail, or connect to corporate networks faster and more efficiently from home, at work or on the road.
The company has seen annual revenue grow from less than 1 million EURO in 1988 to almost 200 million EURO by the end of 2005. Option’s ambition is to achieve 500 million EURO by 2008.
For the past 20 years the driving force behind the growth of Option has been its crystal clear vision, market-driven innovation, solid execution and its talented people. The company remains faithful to these principles as it embarks on a new growth path.
Jan Callewaert, CEO Option: “On behalf of the management team, I congratulate our employees, customers and suppliers past and present, on a truly remarkable journey of innovative entrepreneurship. Our entrepreneurial spirit, our market driven innovation and our focus on execution have made Option what it is today: a worldwide market leader in the wireless industry.
Our company uniquely combines a passion for excellence in engineering with the ability to execute (values that are more commonly associated with start-ups), whilst mastering the art of delivering the right products at the right time to an ever growing number of customers. As impressive as our recent track-record has been, our opportunities for the future are as bright as ever. Our technology and products are ubiquitous, and enable millions of individuals and businesses around the world to exchange ever more information, more simply and faster.”
With more than sixteen products today, Option’s portfolio carries with it a legacy of industry leadership and technology firsts. From the first half-size modem cards for the early laptop computers in the early nineties to the recently announced ‘7.2Mbps Ready’ PC data cards, Option is recognized for its innovation while remaining relentlessly focussed on customer needs.
Innovative milestones established by Option include:
•tThe Jet 1200, the first pan-European modem for PCs
•tThe world’s first PC Card modem with pan-European type approval for portable computers (1992)
•tGSM Ready, the first data card for a laptop that, when connected to a mobile phone, enabled truly wireless communication (1995)
•tFirstFone, the first product integrating a cellular radio into the PC data card format (1998)
•tGlobeTrotter GPRS, the first wireless PC data card with an integrated miniaturized antenna design that met the practical needs of mobile users (2001)
•tGlobeTrotter COMBO (later the FUSION series), the first PC data card fusing cellular technologies with WLAN/Wi-Fi access (2003)
•tGlobeTrotter 3G, the first data card for 3G networks (2003)
•tGlobeTrotter 3G/EDGE ‘HSDPA Ready’, an HSDPA high speed 3G PC data card that, uniquely in the history of mobile devices, operators could put in the market in advance of the commercial availability of the underlying network service. (2005)
•tGlobeSurfer ICON, the elegantly designed device that connects to the USB port of any Desktop or Laptop computer to enable HSDPA connectivity (2006)
•tGlobeSurfer 3G HSDPA, a wireless router that creates an instant WLAN hotspot enabling multiple users to share the same HSDPA connection (2006)
•tGlobeTrotter GT MAX, the first HSDPA PC data card with a flip-out antenna that eliminates the need to remove the data card when travelling (2006)
•tGlobeTrotter GT MAX ‘7.2 Ready’, the first data card enabling HSDPA connectivity at 7.2Mbps while being backward compatible with HSDPA 3.6Mbps and 1.8Mbps and 3G UMTS (2006)
New corporate identity
To coincide with its twentieth anniversary, and as the company enters a new phase in its history, with geographical expansion and the emergence of new consumer segments alongside the established corporate market, Option has unveiled a refreshed corporate identity. Unique and visually rich, the new identity will be used consistently throughout all its markets, increasing the prominence and awareness of the Option brand.
Jan Callewaert commented: “Having the right branding, corporate identity and messaging is increasingly critical in our industry as more players enter the market and more people use our products. The new logo reflects passion, and the transferring of information and knowledge while maintaining a sense of advanced technology. When fully rolled-out, the new corporate identity, will have a very positive impact on all our communication, externally and internally.”
About Option
Option NV (www.option.com), the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G WCDMA (HSDPA and UMTS), EDGE, GPRS, GSM and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has built up an enviable reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option’s headquarters are in Leuven, Belgium. The company has Research & Development in Leuven, a Software and Applications development centre in Adelsried (Germany), a Wireless Router development centre in Stockholm (Sweden), an ISO 9002 production engineering and logistics facility in Cork, Ireland and sales & support offices in US, Japan and Taiwan.
For more information please contact
Jan Callewaert, Founder & CEO or Frederic Convent, CFO Option
Tel + 32 (0) 16 317 411