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Active Power and Marconi Announce Distribution Agreement

July 17, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

Active Power Inc. (Austin, TX) and Marconi plc (UK) announced that the two companies have formed an alliance for Marconi to be the exclusive distributor of Active Power's 6kW high-inertia turbine dc product. This agreement will give Active Power a worldwide distribution and service partner to address the $4.0 billion dc telecommunications power market.

The agreement includes a five-year exclusive distribution agreement, volume minimums, joint sales and marketing funding that will accelerate product introduction into the telecommunications market. Field-test shipments of the 6kW, 24V/48V system are planned in the fourth quarter of this year with the commercial launch and production volumes anticipated to be shipping in the second half of 2002.

"This agreement fulfills a product need in the growing market of critical backup continuous power required for cellular and wire-line power systems," said Dave Smith, executive vice president outside plant and power at Marconi. "Marconi is pleased to align with Active Power, a recognized industry leader in battery-free systems, to commercialize an alternative energy product for the dc telecommunications market."