Aether Systems, supplier of the MobileMax2 mobile communications system, has acquired a number of commercial trucking-oriented products from @Track Communications,

, including HighwayMaster Series 5000, the latest update of the HighwayMaster product line launched in the early 1990s.
According to the announcement, Aether will administer the service and pay @Track to maintain the existing network.
"There's not going to be a change in cost or service. We want these customers to understand there is no interruption. We'll support those products," said Steve Werrlein, Marketing Director for Aether’s Transportation & Logistics group.
Werrlein said Aether hopes HighwayMaster customers will consider Aether products as their needs change in the future. "But our first priority is that this is a seamless transition," he said.
HighwayMaster Series 5000 provides voice and data communication over analog cellular networks. Aether’s MobileMax2 offers dual-mode communications using ground-based digital networks where available and a satellite-based system elsewhere. HighwayMaster and MobileMax have long been competitors in the truckload sector.
The deal announced Monday adds an array of trucking products to Aether’s Transportation & Logistics division, including:

• Platinum Service is an ASP (Application Service Provider) or hosted commercial trucking solution that customers access remotely.

• 20/20V is an AVL (Vehicle Location System) that monitors engines and driver parameters and reports remotely and automatically without driver input.

• TrackWare is a trailer tracking solution that provides service throughout North America.

"We have a huge homeland security initiative and the trailer tracking plays to that," said Werrlein.
The joint announcement noted that Aether and @Track have agreed to work jointly in the adaptation of Minorplanet Vehicle Management Information technology for the potential distribution by Aether to the long-haul-trucking market. Minorplanet is the British company that helped rescue @Track from financial distress last year and is now a major @Track stockholder.
@Track President and CEO Jana Ahlfinger Bell said @Track will now concentrate on service fleets that operate in metropolitan areas. @Track’s largest customer, SBC Communications, includes the Southwestern Bell telephone company.
Commenting on the deal’s impact on the trucking market for mobile communications, Aether’s Werrlein said, "It makes us a strong number two in the market, particularly on the truckload side."
Qualcomm’s satellite-based OmniTRACS products still dominate the truckload mobile communications market.