Nicholas Negroponte
Joins Board Of
Broadband Wireless Network Joltage
Chairman of
MIT Media Lab Invests In Groundbreaking
Venture To Develop International High Speed Wireless Network
NEW YORK,
May 1, 2002 - Joltage Networks, the new wireless company building a
distributed, worldwide network of thousands of individual wireless locations,
announced today that Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder and chairman of the MIT
Media Laboratory and author of the best seller "Being Digital", has
made a significant investment in the company, joined its Board of Directors, and
will assemble and chair its international Advisory Board.
Joltage
Networks is an early-stage wireless ASP developing the world's largest network
of public access, broadband wireless data hotspots based on the burgeoning
802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks ("WLANs"). Joltage
provides a simple-to-use, freely downloadable software application, which
seamlessly integrates with a comprehensive suite of back-end services. Together,
they enable anyone to launch and manage an unlimited number of wireless hotspots
as a business franchise or a free site, as part of a global network. For mobile
wireless users, Joltage provides inexpensive monthly or hourly pricing for
seamless, high-speed access in locations around the world.
Professor
Negroponte has been described by the Sunday Business Post as something of a
"technological evangelist." The MIT Media Lab, which he co-founded
over twenty years ago, is an interdisciplinary, multi million-dollar research
center of unparalleled intellectual and technological resources, focused on the
study, invention, and creative use of digital technologies. It is currently
supported by nearly 140 corporations worldwide, and has led in the development
of now-familiar areas such as digital video and multimedia.
In the private
sector, Professor Negroponte serves on the Board of Directors for Motorola, Inc.
(NYSE: MOT), and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in
digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has also personally
provided start-up funds for many breakthrough companies in the high technology
arena, including WiReD magazine.
"We are
delighted that Professor Negroponte has invested in Joltage and will be playing
a significant role in the company's future" said Andrew Weinreich, Founder
and Chairman of Joltage Networks. "His digital worldview and international
stature will be key components as Joltage forms partnerships with many of the
leading players around the world in the wireless broadband arena."
"Joltage
Networks is the direct instantiation of a vision that I have been talking about
for almost a decade," said Professor Negroponte. "The Joltage approach
is the kind of 'out-of-the-box' thinking that has the potential to ignite an
explosive growth in collaborative communication. I was a founding investor in
WiReD magazine a decade ago, and in the new millennium it is only fitting that
I'm now investing in the UN-wired future!"
Joltage
Networks is developing the world's largest network for ultra-high speed wireless
Internet access through WiFi "hot spots" worldwide using the 802.11
technical standard for Wireless Local Area Networks ("WLANs"). The
company was founded by Chairman Andrew Weinreich, who was previously Founder and
CEO of the youth-oriented networking site sixdegrees, and funded by wireless
industry pioneer and technology investor David S. Rose, described by Red Herring
magazine as the "patriarch of Silicon Alley", who serves as Vice
Chairman of Joltage Networks.
For more
information, or to download the free WiFi Joltage software, visit www.joltage.com
or call (212) 248-1410.
# # #
CONTACT:
Joltage Networks, New York
Andrew
Weinreich
212/248-1410 voice
917/837-9966 mobile