AMR System Survives Wrath of Hurricane Ivan in Alabama & Mississippi

September 27, 2004 - New Orleans - (News Release)

Southern Company service territories in Alabama and Mississippi were among the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ivan when it came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico on the evening of September 15th. Yet despite top winds of 135 MPH, a deluge of rainfall and sporadic tornadoes throughout the region, a new generation of AMR (automatic meter reading) installations by Advanced Metering Data Systems (http://www.AMDSWireless.com) not only survived the storm but operated flawlessly throughout the ordeal.

The patent pending AMDS technology represents an entirely new approach to the gathering, transport and dissemination of utility metering data that is based on a wireless network architecture that is simple, reliable and inexpensive to purchase, install and maintain.

"AMDS avoids reliance on complex third-party cellular and RF common carriers that can default to busy signals and must first be reinitialized after a catastrophic outage. Because the AMDS system controls all critical communications elements, it was able to keep operating throughout the storm, collecting valuable meter readings, power failure events, power restorations, and line voltage readings even in Hurricane Ivan's hardest hit areas. Our tower network remained 100% operational the during entire storm, even though some tower sites operated for 8 hours or more on internal back-up power," said Marc Reed, AMDS Vice-president of Systems & Software.

"The big reason for this seemingly impossible continuity is directly related to the simplicity of the AMDS design, requiring only a few towers and minimal hardware," Reed continued. "Systems based on cellular communications, distributed collectors and data bases, or other conventional media are far more complex and take much longer to restore. They are also much more likely to sustain damage to critical infrastructure simply because there is so much more of it to be damaged," Reed concluded.

Formed in 2003 by a team of experienced industry professionals, AMDS provides automatic meter reading technology and monitoring services to electric, gas and water utilities using patented technology and a dedicated, FCC-licensed fixed wireless network.

The AMDS system provides secure, reliable meter data from a fixed based wireless network. Unmatched reliability is achieved by nationwide receiver tower coverage of metering end-points, data/message redundancy, fail-over backup provisions and operation on FCC licensed primary-use (unshared) spectrum that no other AMR system can claim.

"Primary-use spectrum offers utilities a new level of confidence in 30-year deployments that cannot be realized from unlicensed or shared service communications media. Seamless communications with a utility's meter deployment is delivered on a turnkey basis by AMDS via master agreements with owners of existing radio towers nationwide. The system eliminates easement and access issues and provides set daily metering data at an all-in price that is competitive with drive-by systems yet offers a far more robust meter data regimen.

ABOUT AMDS
Advanced Metering Data Systems, LLC is a metering and wireless connectivity company with headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana. AMDS provides automatic meter reading technology and monitoring services to electric, gas and water utilities using patented technology and a dedicated, FCC-licensed fixed wireless network. Please visit us at http://www.AMDSWireless.com.