Media Release

SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF US TRIALS
LAUNCH OF US OPERATIONS - JANUARY 2007

19th December, 2006

Adelaide-based MGM Wireless Ltd today announced the full scale launch of its innovative messageyou™ SMS / Text based school attendance product suite in the US starting January 1st.

The MGM Wireless board gave the green light for the launch after reviewing data from its three school district trials in Arizona over the past five months.

“The Arizona trials have been a strong success,” said MGM Wireless executive Chairman Mr Mark Fortunatow. “Schools and parents have accepted our product range with open arms. More importantly, our SMS text based systems have helped boost school attendance levels at these trial schools, in some cases demonstrating a 30-60% reduction in unexplained student absences”.

MGM Wireless will roll out its entire, patented, product range for US schools: messageyou™, which sends an automatic, culturally sensitive SMS text message to parents or guardians when students are late or missing from school; Electronic Roll Marking, an innovative approach to the chore of roll marking using bar code technology; and messageyou™Watchlists, the attendance analysis tool that has proven so successful in Australian schools since its launch last year.

The company is locating its US headquarters at Santa Clara in Silicon Valley, California, the heartland of American technology innovation. MGM has named Mr Robin Hamon, a former senior staffer from MGM Wireless’s successful West and South Australian operation, as Vice President – US Sales for the US launch. Mr. Hamon is relocating his teenage family from Australia to Silicon Valley as part of the new operations.

Truancy is a massive issue in the US. Recent studies have shown that on a given day, around 2.7 million students fail to show up for schools across the nation. Furthermore, US schools are funded primarily on student attendance, not just on enrolments. This represents a far more compelling case for US school Districts to purchase messageyou™ as compared to Australia.

“There are more than 47 million school students in America with around 98 percent attending what we would call regular schools,” Mr Fortunatow said. “This is more than 20 times the size of the Australian market. “

“In Australia MGM has carved out a 92 percent share of the market for student attendance communication systems.  More than 14 percent of every Government and Private high school in Australia with more than 400 students uses MGM Wireless products.”

“The US opportunity is enormous and the board feels we can build on the success of the Arizona trials to make a meaningful impact in this major school market. We have done very significant  research and market entry analysis in preparation for this move. If we can achieve a similar penetration rate in the US, we will be delighted.”

Truancy is a serious issue at a social as well as economic level.  Many US studies have shown that students with the highest truancy rates have the lowest achievement and highest dropout rates.  

The consequences of dropping out are well documented in reports such as The Silent Epidemic, published by the Gates Foundation this year.  School dropouts have significantly fewer job prospects, make lower salaries and are more often unemployed.

“For your average US school, the issue is not the price of installing our service; it is the cost of not having an effective program to ensure enrolled students make it to classes,”  Mr Fortunatow said.  

MGM Wireless was named last month in the top 20 fastest growing companies in Australia by 2006 Deloitte Tech Fast 50 index.

For further information or individual case studies about schools using MGM Wireless services contact:

CEO Mark Fortunatow
MGM Wireless Ltd. - (ASX: MWR)

Mobile: +61 (0) 421 328 984
Phone: +61 (8) 8431 2300
Email: mfortunatow@mgmwireless.com
Web: www.mgmwireless.com

Robin Hamon
Vice President – US Sales

Email: rhamon@mgmwireless.com
Web: www.mgmwireless.com
Address:440N Wolfe Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA

 

 

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