League City, TX (Marketwire) – ERF Wireless (OTCBB: ERFW), a leading provider of enterprise-class wireless broadband products and services, announced today that the company has entered into a Master Services Agreement with Rural Texas Broadband, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADT Systems Inc. based in Pearsall, Texas, for the delivery of wholesale Internet and bandwidth services to Energy Broadband Inc., the oil and gas subsidiary of ERF Wireless. Energy Broadband has already begun using this enhanced wireless broadband coverage to deliver wireless broadband to oil and gas companies under existing contracts, as well as to other oil and gas companies active in the Eagle Ford Shale area in South Texas.
According to Dr. H. Dean Cubley, CEO of ERF Wireless, “This agreement marks the eighth in a series of agreements with quality wireless network providers throughout major oil and gas regions of North America. Our approach of partnering with quality wireless broadband providers along with our parallel path of continued construction of quality wireless broadband networks has allowed the company to rapidly expand its wireless coverage area in strategic locations that are required to have Energy Broadband service to meet the needs of the company’s growing oil and gas customer base.” Cubley added, “Our agreement and partnership with Rural Texas Broadband greatly enhances our capabilities to service key areas of this important market while we simultaneously construct a broader network that covers the far western Eagle Ford Shale where there is a distinct lack of wireless coverage, including WiMax and cellular.”
“Rural Texas Broadband has built an extensive high-quality network and operations over the past ten years and are currently servicing customers off of 12 towers in the surrounding markets of Pearsall, Dilley, Gardendale, Cotulla, Carrizo Springs, Big Wells, and surrounding communities,” said Tommy Allmand, President of Rural Texas Broadband and ADT Systems Inc. “Additionally, through our partner networks on 17 more towers, we will be providing service to ERF Wireless in the surrounding markets near Victoria and Goliad as well. We are pleased to have completed the strategic partnership with ERF Wireless and have already begun providing quality Internet and bandwidth services to ERF Wireless for ultimate delivery to their end user oil and gas customers.”
John Nagel, CEO of Energy Broadband, noted that the most active areas in the Eagle Ford Shale are located primarily in 24 counties of southern Texas. Drilling rigs and “fracing” teams are migrating away from other lower margin natural gas fields to the Eagle Ford which has a high percentage of carbonate shale — containing more oil than natural gas. The higher percentage of carbonate makes the Eagle Ford shale more brittle and “fracable.” The fracturing fleets demand more bandwidth than even the drilling rigs and provide still another customer base for Energy Broadband. The Eagle Ford may not get as much media attention as do the Bakken or Marcellus plays; however, it is clear there is significant activity in the Eagle Ford and plenty of oil to be produced. Case in point, based on statistics obtained from the Texas Railroad Commission, drilling permits issued increased from 94 to 1229 from 2009 to 2010, a 1207% increase; oil production increased from 307,366 barrels to 2,596,263 barrels from 2009 to 2010, a 745% increase in oil production; and, finally, gas increased from 16 Bcf to 64 Bcf from 2009 to 2010, for a 300% increase.
Nagel continued, “Through our strategic relationship with Rural Texas Broadband, our ability to fulfill requests for broadband service to drilling and production operations in key areas in the Eagle Ford Shale Region of South Texas has been greatly accelerated. Rural Texas Broadband has put together an exceptional wireless broadband Internet service and we are proud to be working closely with their professional staff members. We will be capable of extending reliable, high-quality voice and data connectivity to our energy based customers located within their remote coverage areas using our Mobile Broadband Tower (MBT) fleet. We have recently taken delivery of an additional 53 MBTs, increasing our overall fleet to over 112 MBTs with more currently under construction.”
For more information regarding ERF Wireless’ products and capabilities in the oil and gas industry, our new coverage in the Eagle Ford Shale region, as well as new coverage planned in other oil and gas regions, customers should contact the Energy Broadband sales staff at 888-770-7052. A new coverage map showing both existing and planned Energy Broadband wireless coverage in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wyoming and Colorado can be seen at http://www.erfwireless.com/oil_gas_map_big.html.
