SAN FRANCISCO, October 23, 2007 — Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, in partnership with CTIA, the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, announced the first-ever Wireless Fast 50, a ranking of the fastest growing wireless companies based on revenue growth over the past five years. Satellite technology pioneer SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) achieved the top spot, with SkyBitz, TeleNav, BTI Systems and Tira Wireless rounding out the top winners, respectively.

Wireless Fast 50 award winners were introduced today as part of the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment conference in San Francisco. Earlier in the day, SIRIUS also earned top billing in Deloitte’s long-standing Technology Fast 500 ranking.

"Given the increasing influence of wireless technology on lifestyles and business models, the time is right to supplement Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 rankings with a stand-alone assessment of the wireless market," said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman, U.S. Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. "Our Wireless Fast 50 underscores the potential for both innovation and business performance in this evolving sector." 

Satellite Radio Gets Serious

Number one ranked SIRIUS Satellite Radio offers its 7.1 million subscribers more than 130 channels of the “Best Radio on Radio,” including 68 channels of 100 percent commercial-free music and 65 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data services.  

SIRIUS’s revenue has increased more than 79,000 percent since 2002, and the company is planning to merge with XM Satellite Radio, No. 11 on the Wireless Fast 50 list.

“SIRIUS’s ability to top both our Wireless Fast 50 and overall Technology Fast 500 rankings speaks both to the potential of wireless as a change agent and to the company’s well-conceived business strategy,” said Asmundson.  “While adoption rates for new technologies are usually slow, SIRIUS has benefited from its entrance into the OEM market for cars and handheld devices. By becoming an active partner in bringing satellite radio to consumers, they are driving increased adoption.” 

From Open Roads to Mobile Content: The Top 5

• SkyBitz, ranked No. 2, provides satellite-based global positioning for transportation security, tracking more than 135,000 trailers and containers as they travel the highways. Wireless asset tracking has enabled SkyBitz to grow its revenues 40,314 percent over five years.
• TeleNav, ranked No. 3, was the first to launch a GPS solution for mobile phones in North America. Its flagship product, TeleNav GPS Navigator, provides voice and onscreen driving directions on mobile phones and smart phones. TeleNav experienced 16,666 percent revenue growth over five years.
• Fourth-ranked BTI Systems enables wireless carriers to distribute data to end-users through its fiber optic microWDM solutions. Video based applications and data shared on wireless devices is creating a bandwidth strain in optical edge networks. BTI has focused on delivering broadband network infrastructures that alleviate this strain and are flexible, easy to operate and profitable. This focus has enabled the company’s revenues to grow 16,610 percent since 2002.
• Tied for fourth, Tira Wireless provides developers and publishers with tools to productize and bring content to the mobile market. Tira Jump 2008, its flagship mobile development and deployment platform, encourages code re-use and broad collaboration using a Jumplet^TM component model. Tira Wireless has achieved 16,610 percent revenue growth since 2002.

Trends Driving Wireless

As a group, the 2007 Wireless Fast 50’s extraordinary growth rate reflects a number of underlying trends:

• Wireless voice connections surpassing wired connections: Wireless device usage is surpassing that of land lines. In fact, the majority of wireless calls are done within hands reach of a wired phone.
• More than just voice: People are increasingly using wireless mobile devices for more than just voice communication. They use them as personal devices and incorporate them into their lifestyles, leading to new business opportunities.
• Consumer mobility driving business disruption: Wireless technology is a key enabler of a mobile, un-tethered world. This mobility is changing how people work, communicate and think about entertainment, which in turn is disrupting business models.

The Deloitte Wireless Fast 50

The complete Wireless Fast 50 rankings are as follows:

The Technology Wireless Fast 50 program is presented by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, in association with its program sponsor, ONESPORT, an agency providing corporate advisory, business development and program management services to a select clientele.

Qualifying Criteria

To qualify for the Wireless Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2002 and $5,000,000 in 2006; be headquartered anywhere in the world; and be a company that owns proprietary wireless technology or proprietary wireless intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of wireless technology. Using other companies' wireless technology or intellectual property in a unique way does not qualify.

Companies from the Wireless Fast 50 program are automatically entered in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 program, which ranks North America’s top 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies. For more information on Deloitte’s Wireless Fast 50 or Technology Fast 500 programs, visit www.fast500.com.

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