ABL NEWS

ABL Celebrates eighteen months since public launch.

It has been eighteen months since our successful public launch, and ABL is now an established provider of broadband services in the Amazon. It has been a year since our last newsletter, and we welcome many new members to our mailing list who have inquired about our services on the ABL website. Links to previous newsletters are listed on the right. It's hard to believe how time flies. The lack of newsletters is not because nothing has been happening but rather because we have been very busy.

Although I made a trip to Rio to join my wife for her visa interview at the end of October, I haven't been in Manaus since our wedding in July of 2005. The trip to Rio turned out to very worthwhile. The interview at the American Consulate lasted only 5 minutes and we received her visa the next business day. My wife is now with me in the USA where I am still traveling around the country installing digital ground to air radios for the FAA (for more background on this project click here). These are the same radios that are being installed by the Brazilian Government to upgrade their Air Traffic Control services. Then, since it was a week before our scheduled flight out of Rio we had to stick around acting like tourists! So we made the best of things and the trip turned out to be rather exciting since it was our first chance to get to know that romantic city and also an opportunity for me to see some old friends and introduce them to my wife. We were also able to visit the Infranav Headquarters and see a number of people I worked with on the SIVAM project. Thanks to my wonderful friends at Infranav and especially to Leonardo and Anna Carneiro for their generous hospitality during our first visit to Rio de Janerio. We are looking forward to being in Manaus again at the end of August.

ABL in Parintins.

ABL was in Parintins from June 23rd until June 11th to support PRODAM's coverage of the Boi Bumba Festival (June 29th to July 1) and to support a video conference for a doctors convention. This very difficult and unpleasant duty was assigned to our Project Manager, Mario Filho, who made the sacrifice of enduring the festivities and viewing the festival from the VIP box. Our thanks to Mario for being willing to take on this very dangerous duty! All joking aside, Mario is turning out to be a star player on the ABL team, working installation, technical support and sales.

Suframa Fair.

A very exciting upcoming event is the International Suframa Fair at Studio 5 in Manaus, Aug. 31st to Sept 2nd. where many businesses will be demonstrating their products. Although we are not an exhibitor at the fair this year, we will be there and we will be visible. We are going to be providing free internet access at Cervejaria Fellice from approximately August 18 until Sept. 11, and we will be available there to meet customers and discuss our present and future services. My wife Sônia and I will personally be in Manaus from Aug. 25th to Sept. 11 and I will spend some of my time at the Fair and at Fellice. If you are going to be in Manaus during that time, I would love to meet you. If you can be there, please e-mail me and we'll set something up.

US Chamber of Commerce.

ABL has become a member of the US Chamber of Commerce of Amazonas and will be participating in their future events. The growing establishment of U.S. businesses in Amazônia that began in 1974 rapidly brought about the need for a business exchange forum between Brazilian and U.S. firms. With the combined efforts of a small American team and with the help of Founding Members, the U.S Chamber of Commerce of Amazonas was created in 2004. We are convinced that ABL's participation in the chamber will both widen our horizons and help us to participate more fully in the community.

ABL adds new business model.

When we launched ABL in January of 2005, we launched with a business model based on ABL owning the VSAT equipment and loaning it to the customers. The primary reason for this was due to the slow process of working through the Brazilian bureaucracy, because at first they didn't issue us a license to sell products, only services. For some time now, we have had a license to sell products as well and we hope soon to make a wide range of products available to our clients.

While we will continue our previous business model of loaning equipment to our customers for those who prefer not to own it themselves, we are pleased to announce that we are now able to offer the VSAT equipment for sale to the clients. Clients who decide to own their own VSAT system will receive a substantial discount in the monthly service. Some new exciting news is that Banco do Brasil has offered to provide financing for our customers who are also account holders with them. If you or someone you know is interested in obtaining a quote based on this business model, please call our office at (92) 3232 5581 or send us an e-mail with your phone number and we will gladly contact you.

DirecWay is now HughesNet Satellite Internet

With HughesNet, your super-fast, always-on, satellite Internet access is ready when you are—no dialing in, no waiting and no tied-up phone lines. You can download files in seconds, check e-mail instantly and surf faster than you ever imagined. And HughesNet is compatible with Windows and Mac, so getting online anywhere in Amazônia is easy! To order HughesNet internet via Satellite, click here.

Other new products and services.

While ABL will for the foreseeable future continue to feature broadband via satellite featuring the HughesNet service as our main product, we are looking forward to adding a number of new products and services in the next twelve months. Included in our wish list are the following:

• A transportable, self deploying mount for our VSAT antennas. Some of our clients have been requesting a VSAT system that they can move from one location to the other. Our previous implementation of this application required us to send an installer to the client's location every time the client moved the equipment. We are currently pursuing the acquisition of a transportable mount for our antennas equipped with a GPS receiver and computer driven motors that will self deploy the antenna and lock in the satellite signal without the need for an installer.
• A portable briefcase sized satellite telephone/VSAT combination that the client can set up and have working in a matter of minutes. This system will provide an internet connection of up to 512 Kbps for up to ten computers as well as the ability to make satellite telephone calls simultaneously. This is actually available now, although we don't have a demo model yet. The cost is more than VSAT, but less than GloboStar. It uses the InmarSat system and is called BGAN. It will fit in your computer bag and you can take it anywhere in the world. We also have available a roof mounted antenna for cars and boats that works in motion. If you are interested in this product, please call our office.
• A combined VSAT/Television system that will work in motion on Amazon riverboats.
• A comprehensive VoIP solution that works in Brazil. So far, we have several VoIP solutions that work for making outgoing calls to the USA, and some that work over a VPN but not to access the public telephone system. Our goal is to have a comprehensive VoIP solution for our VSAT customers by the end of 2006. VoIP is the future of the telecommunications industry, and one product we hope to have available soon is a hybrid phone that combines VoIP technology via WiFi with cellular technology.
• Residential Broadband Service. So far, ABL does not provide broadband service for residences because the cost of VSAT is much too high for residential customers, yet the majority of potential clients who contact us are interested in residential service. Because of this we are pursuing several possibilities for providing broadband services to residences and hope to have one soon. Please watch our website for new developments.

All of the items on the above list represent existing technology. We have only to arrange for suppliers and overcome the regulatory hurdles.

Newly designed Website.

ABL has a new look to our website! The major change to our website is the addition of pertinent articles on the subject of Wireless Broadband, Information Technology, and Wireless Networking. We still have many articles to add and are adding new ones every week. Our current featured article is "Como Escolher um Provedor de Internet via Satélite?" Please keep an eye on the website for frequent additions.

The ABL office and the American CyberCafé get a new look.

The American CyberCafé is temporarily closed for remodeling. When we reopen, there will be many attractive changes to the look, including a complete new color scheme and the addition of an espresso machine. We are also looking forward to adding a Microsoft XBox 360, which we expect to bring some great excitement for our clients. I'll post some pictures on the website soon.

ABL seeks installation and maintenance contracts.

In addition to the installation and maintenance of VSAT systems, The ABL team has expertise in the installation and maintenance of all kinds of electronics equipment, including, computer networks, telecommunications equipment, ground to air and point to point radios, radar, and air navigation systems. We are also in the process of opening an electronics repair shop in our facility. If you know of any company that would be interested in contracting such services from us, please have them contact our office at (92) 3232 5581, or e-mail us.

Publicity!

Recently ABL's Executive Vice President, Tom Almeida, was featured on two television shows in Manaus. The first one was Programa da Norma, which is a culinary show. She interviewed him about broadband and gave him the opportunity to talk about our services. She actually wanted her audience, which consists primarily of women, to know more about broadband. This program is broadcast daily on cable TV in Manaus.

The second show was Figuras, which means pictures but also, as slang important people, broadcast via cable TV to all cities in the Amazon.

It looks like Tom is heading toward stardom! In the future we might have to book appointments through his publicity agent! I hope he doesn't become too expensive for us!

Thank you for your interest in ABL. I will continue to send out newsletters from time to time to keep you up to date. Meanwhile, if you have any questions or interest in our services please feel free to contact our office office at (92) 3232 5581 or email any of us on the ABL Team.

Bruce Patterson, President
Amazônia Banda Larga e Informática Ltda.

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