TruTeq rose from the ashes of the corporate failure of a NASDAQ-listed company in 2001. Realising the potential of GSM-based products, a number of ex-employees formed TruTeq. Unsuccessful at raising venture capital, we decided to self-finance and ride it out. All our operations and projects are now completely internally financed and we have no outside investors messing with the cashflow up or confusing the strategy. We focus on long-term customer value rather than today's share price.

We have built up an extensive product range for both GSM and CDMA networks and enjoy exports to over 37 network operators in 25 countries.

Our values

We didn't want to follow in the steps of our previous employers, so we set ourselves very high standards. The most important ones are:

• Fair and ethical treatment of employees
• Having a stimulating and creative work environment
• Building long-term partnerships with our customers
• Delivering value as well as competitive advantages for our customers
• Ethical values in winning new business (yes - even in Africa)
• Not using our credit terms with our suppliers to finance our operations

Awards

The Technology Top 100 competition is a program endorsed by the South African Government. The best of the best tech companies compete fiercly every year for this coveted award. We have seen our share of the action with awards as follows:

• 2002 : Honourable mention for R&D as well as Most promising small startup
• 2003 : Technology Top 100 Company
• 2004 : Information, Communications and Technology : Hardware
• 2005 : Technology Top 100 Company
• 2006 : Technology Top 100 Innovation Finalist

The adjudication process is not just limited to the technology of the products, but rather the company as a whole, including facets such as financial performance, HR policies, environmental policies, IP management, supplier and customer management and a long list of other points.

Adjudication includes three elimination rounds with an on-site visit.

After 2006 we decided not to enter again.

Our market

GSM and CDMA technology have spread to almost every corner of the globe. According to GSM World (www.gsmworld.com), there are 29 GSM connections for every 100 humans on Earth. More than 200 territories or countries support hundreds of Network Operators with almost 2 Billion subscribers.

Our core business is the development of GSM and CDMA products. This extends from some or other data terminal all the way into the GSM or CDMA network to routing and billing systems that handle and process billions packets of data.

Data terminals have peculiarities that make their development and mass production extremely challenging and risky. Unlike software, they have to be perfect the first time. Add the sometimes-unpredictable behaviour between the terminal and the GSM or CDMA network, and one can appreciate that years of experience are crucial to be able to be successful.

Our GSM and CDMA Network software started with a positioning system (LBS) and we ended up with a suite of products that challenge and exceed the performance and functionality of the traditional big names in this industry. Network Operators are beginning to realise that they don't have to pay top dollar for messaging and VAS systems.

Our Company Structure

There are four companies in the group that cover markets as follows:

Also visit TruTeq Devices and Izembe Technologies

Our environment

TruTeq is a great place to work. Not only have we reached what we believe to be the ultimate balance of creativity and commercialisation, but we also interact with our community. We give back in the form of:

• Active participation in the open-source community
• Student bursaries
• Internal training upliftment programs
• Support of our favourite charity - SACMEC (South African Centre for Missing and Exploited Children)

BEE

TruTeq Wireless is a BEE Level Three contributor with 110% purchase recognition.

Memberships

We are members of a number of informal societies as well as formal associations :

• Licensing Executives Society
• WASPA
• Contributing members of various Open Source projects

United Nations Global Compact

We have been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2009. This allows us to put our business ethics into words and to publish the way we do business.

The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption enjoy universal consensus. The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Please visit the United Nations Global Compact site here.

You can also track our progress by reading our communications on progress over here.

Company Statements

Sometimes just assuming that everybody knows how we work is not enough. We have a few policy statements that put how we work into words and make our position clear and for the sake of transparency, we make them available here. Click on the link to download the document:

• Labour Policies and Standards Statement
• Bribery and Corruption Statement
• Safety and Health Statement
• Environmental Statement
• Human Rights Statement

The future

We have many new exciting prospects and opportunities for the future. We will always be a few steps ahead and have a roadmap with many new products along with the old favourites. There is always room for improvement and we can't wait to improve!