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LOOKING FOR DISTRIBUTION: 300,000 of the air card antennas were sold to Vodaphone in Europe last year, Germany’s T-Mobile bought 30,000 units, but in the U.S., getting the word out about Impulse Technologies’ antenna for NovAtel air cards has been a challenge. U.S. wireless carriers take a long time to finalize agreements, so Impulse is looking for new distribution channels in the dealer market.
Air cards and the new Express Cards from OEM, NovAtel Wireless, are sold by the major carriers. The air cards have a little-known antenna port on the side - under a black rubber flap - and Impulse Technologies makes the antenna that fits that connector port. Air card users know well the situational difficulty of staying online with these cards, in problem areas.
Cellular data air cards have the same issues with internet connectivity as the cell phone does in certain environments; in fact getting bumped off the internet because of a weak signal is far more common than is talked about. The problem is not the cards’ functionality, but building interference and cell tower distance will more often affect the performance of cellular data transmission than voice, and people who own the air cards find themselves frustrated when conditions are not optimal for their use.
NovAtel is trying to help by placing a link to Impulses’ website from their ‘accessories’ link on their own website. But Impulse is only selling to individuals if they call the company, and people call from all over the world, says company President. Mario Leone. They call from Dubai, Australia, The Netherlands, however, Impulse is not planning to create an e-commerce location to sell individual units. They are looking for wholesale distribution and bulk buyers.
NexAira is one of their distributors and Impulse is ready to find more channels within the wholesale, reseller chain. Corporate decision making in the big three creates delays and meanwhile Impulse has a badly needed product waiting to be brought to the retail market. The company has kept their retail value high enough to sustain quality margins for dealers and believes the antennas should be merchandised along side the new Express Cards and as an accessory to aide the older air cards in problem environments as well.
The 2dBi signal boost is usually all the air cards and Express Cards need to break past a concrete barrier to the cell tower or over the hump between towers when traveling. And it’s a heck of lot easier to tote around than a booster; which is perfect especially for people who travel for business or who need the laptop for fieldwork.
Leone talks about the market and the amount of air card users that there already are. “Just think about the numbers of traveling sales people or the insurance industry alone,” he says. “The internet and a laptop have become as essential as a telephone. You can’t open documents on a Blackberry and get any real work done.”
One location where Leone gets work done and cellular reception because of the Blade Antenna, which impresses people, is at his daughter’s indoor swim meets. “The building is encased in concrete bricks and steel and the pool area is humid and below ground,” he says. “There’s a lot of time between meets and I need to stay productive. I’m the only person there who can get on to the internet. Other parents and the coach have asked me how I was able to get online, so of course I brought some antennas for them.”
Impulse Technologies believes that ultimately it’s a matter of store awareness, not only about the existence of the antenna, but also of the connector port on the air cards. It’s the consumer who is really in need of this easy to carry solution to connectivity issues in the field. For the air card, sometimes all you need is a little help from a friend.
For information on the Blade Antenna by Impulse Technologies visit
www.impulse-tech.com or call 1-631-968-4116