GOWEX reaches Eastern Europe through an agreement with SunWireless, the main wireless service provider in Macedonia
• GOWEX has reached a bilateral roaming agreement with the Macedonian carrier SunWireless, allowing GOWEX to extend its WiFi coverage in public spaces and more specifically in the service sector in Macedonia
• Thanks to this agreement, GOWEX users can connect to the SunWireless WiFi networks located in airports, restaurants and bars in Skopje, the capital, and another 16 cities in the country
• This partnership joins other agreements that GOWEX maintains with some of the largest global operators and WiFi aggregators: AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Oi Brazil, PCCW, Boingo, etc.
Madrid, November 27, 2013 – GOWEX ( GOW -MAB, NYSE Alternext ALGOW ), a leader in creating Smart Cities (Wireless Smart Cities®) and WiFi applications for Intelligent Transportation systems, has reached a roaming agreement with SunWireless, the most important wireless operator in Macedonia, allowing GOWEX to extend WiFi coverage in the country’s public spaces and areas, focusing on the country’s service sector.
Due to this strategic partnership, GOWEX will extend its connection services in Eastern Europe and continue to strengthen its Roaming and Offloading platform, which already hosts some of the most important operators and WiFi worldwide aggregators: AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, PCCW, Oi Brazil, Boingo, etc.
“This agreement with SunWireless, a leading Internet operator in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, increases our global offering and therefore enhances the attractiveness of our Advertising and Roaming platforms. It also intensifies the presence of GOWEX WiFi services in areas with large numbers of users and tourists, such as airports and restaurants, “says Jenaro García, CEO at GOWEX.
WiFi Roaming in the main cities of Macedonia
With this agreement, GOWEX users can log on to SunWireless hotspots located in hotels, malls, restaurants, cafés, airports and university residences in the major cities of Macedonia: Skopje, the capital of the country, Tetovo, Ohrid, Strumica, Kavadarci, and 12 more cities. Specifically, SunWireless has coverage in the major airports of the country: Alexander the Great, the capital airport, and Ohrid Airport, known as St. Paul the Apostle, located in the southwest of Macedonia (see SW Hotzone).
In the same way, SunWireless users visiting Spain will have the opportunity to access high quality Wireless Internet through the GOWEX network. This agreement is focused on student populations, businessmen, tourists and any other smartphone users.
“We are very pleased to embark on this partnership with a global player like GOWEX. It is a privilege to have Spain as our first country of expansion outside of our region, and this expansion will help us in our mission to provide the best services to our customers and partners, wherever they are” said Dusko Koncaliev, CEO of SunWireless.
Macedonian smartphone boom
According to the Ericsson Mobility Report November 2013, Central and Eastern Europe represents the largest shared area of total smartphone subscriptions growth in the world (+139 %) in Q3 of 2013.
According to the data published by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia, 34.3% of the smartphone users in Macedonia logged on to the Internet to browse outside of their home or work during Q1 2013.
About GOWEX (GOW-MAB, ALGOW-NYSE Alternext, LGWXY-OTC Market)
GOWEX has operated in the telecommunications sector for 14 years. It is currently leading the creation of “Wi-Fi Smart Cities,” which offers free and premium Wi-Fi connectivity on the street and in means of public transportation. The company is now exporting its innovative business models to near 80 cities in the world, thanks to different agreements with Public Administrations, Franchise stores, Associations and Transport companies.
In all its WiFi cities, GOWEX works to create Wireless Smart Cities ® (WiFi Smart Cities) that could offer free wireless Internet to all the citizens and that could improve the services given through wireless connectivity: online meter reading, traffic light control, public transport fleet management, video surveillance and so on.
In 2010, GOWEX became the first and only Spanish SMB to make a “dual listing,” publicly traded in MAB (GOW) and Nyse-Alternext (ALGOW). The company’s total revenue amounted to €114,1 million in 2012. On December 2012, GOWEX subscribed a €18 million capital, adding 1,528,404 new common shares to the market. In February, 2012, the SEC approved the emission of ADR’s program (American Depositary Receipt) allowing the Group to be quoted equally in the USA on the market OTCQX.
With offices in Madrid, Paris, Dubai, London, Buenos Aires, Shanghai and Costa Rica, GOWEX develops a sustainable business model in its Wi-Fi networks, based on the efficient and technical quality of their patented platforms: the Roaming Platform, which allows users to connect freely in all the cities, and the Geolocation Content and Advertisement Platform, which provides financing business through marketing and advertisement agreements.
In 2011, GOWEX joined the “Wireless Broadband Alliance” and received a prize for the “Best Web Company” on Internet.
In February 2012, Jenaro García GOWEX CEO received the “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” by Ernst & Young in the category of “Innovation”.
About SunWireless
SunWireless is a leading provider of wireless internet coverage in Macedonia and the Balkans, with more than 550 hotzones and is aggressively expanding its network coverage in the region.
SunWireless’ list of hotspots includes exclusive locations like airports, hotels, bus stations, student dormitories, city buses, restaurants, squares and sports arenas.
SunWireless offers mobility with its pre-paid internet packages, designed to fit the need of the mobile customer, as well as wholesale access to its Wi-Fi network and data roaming services to its telecommunications partners.
SunWireless has business partnerships with iPass, Boingo, TAV Airports and ONE Telecommunications.
