A growing number of Americans today are eating healthier, with a keen eye for locally-sourced, organically-grown ingredients, and this has led to an unprecedented shift towards healthy, organic foods in the roughly $709 billion in sales (National Restaurant Association’s 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast) restaurant and foodservice industry. And while fast casual chains, which saw 11 percent sales growth the year before last overall, continue to increasingly move towards healthier choices, there has yet to be really big winners over on the $224 billion by 2018 (Euromonitor) full-service side of the equation. With recent winners in the fast casual game like Panera Bread’s (NASDAQ: PNRA) bakery-cafe locations and Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS), which features globally inspired noodle and pasta dishes, as well as soups, salads and sandwiches, it is clear that organic choices and newly rethought menus designed to cater to the health-conscious are now officially big business in the restaurant industry.

Fusing a best-of-breed organic menu featuring fresh salads, sandwiches, wraps, Panini’s, pizzas and pasta, as well as appetizers and desserts, together with a Gymboree-like child play area that is full of climbers, ball pits, castles, dragons, pirate ships, and fun tactile games to play, is LA-based Giggles N’ Hugs, Inc. Designed as a family casual dining restaurant and playspace targeting parents and their young children, Giggles N’ Hugs has the potential to develop into a household name brand that is recognized by everyone, thanks to the deep bench of management talent, with decades of collective experience spanning both the fast casual restaurant sector, and child play area market. The concept and target market is simple to grasp, but until now no one was really catering to the upscale kid party market in dining with an organic restaurant concept, leaving the much sought after high earner demographics to fend for themselves.

Organic casual dining for mom and dad, with a giant playroom full of wonders for kids 1 to 12 to explore and play around in, getting good exercise and being periodically entertained by events like arts and crafts, puppet shows, or music. And the kids get to eat healthy, organic foods that parents can feel good about. Health-conscious, organic food-buying parents know that establishing healthy eating habits while young and associating healthy eating with physical activity is a great way to prepare kids for a lifetime of better living. Something which gives parents a huge incentive to come back again and again.

Whether it’s for a play lunch, a chance for parents to simply unwind with a drink while the kids play happily, or to leave the kids where they can enjoy themselves safely in an expansive 2,500 square foot or more play area. Under the watchful and attentive eye of trained “aides” who assist with the children’s enjoyment, parents can feel easy as they take in the consumer buffet of the numerous shops available in the mall or galleria where the Giggles N’ Hugs location is present. Being able to shop in peace, secure in the knowledge that the kids are happily playing and are safe is a godsend for busy parents. This one factor of the company’s approach to the space could drive sustained revenues to new levels amid a nationwide expansion.

This aspect of the business represents a significant asset to mall owners, offering potential mall goers a service that enables their overall experience mightily. This synergistic relationship between the nature of the business and the location where a given venue is present gives GIGL attractive expansion benefits, such as an on average 75 percent discount when it comes to commercial space rental fees, and as much as $700,000 up-front cash in some cases, enough to cover around half the build-out or site refurbish needed to open a new location. The company has taken serious interest from major mall operators throughout the country like Westfield Group, Macerich Group, General Growth Properties, and even Simon Properties, the biggest of the four, who collectively represent over 550 properties across the nation, each with access to choice demographics.

With three initial locations in upscale LA malls (Century City Mall, Glendale Galleria and the Topanga Canyon Mall) and plans to expand nationwide already in the offing, a sumptuous organic menu might drive customers in the doors, but it’s the kid-friendly amenities that will get shoppers to come back for more. GIGL takes in revenue from all the usual restaurant sources like food and beverage, as well as beer and wine, but gets the added revenues from admission fees for the play area, membership fees (one-month, three-month and six-months unlimited play) from regulars who get a substantial discount with the membership, and themed parties (roughly 40 percent of revenues), which put those typical at competitors in the industry, like Chuck E. Cheese, to shame.

At Giggles N’ Hugs, kids get organic food, drinks, a fresh desert, a wide variety of engaging activities including games, dance parties, puppet shows and music by professional entertainers, as well as return passes, and the entire party can be from among a whole range of themes. Chuck E. Cheese by comparison only offers Superhero and Princess themes, with two slices of pizza per kid, drinks, video games, and a candy piñata for around the same $350 price tag. At Giggles N’ Hugs kids can choose from over eight different themes, and the highly trained, CPR-certified staff really go out of their way to ensure the quality of the experience.

Take a closer look, visit www.gigglesnhugs.com

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Production of industrial hemp, though currently illegal throughout much of the country, is ingrained into the very fabric of the United States. George Washington was a noted proponent for hemp production, and farmers were even permitted to pay their federal taxes with the vital crop for more than 200 years. By 1850, there were more than 8,300 hemp farms across the nation. However, additional taxes imposed by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 made hemp production too expensive to compete with international operations. If that didn’t damage the country’s industrial hemp market enough, a bit of mistaken identity with its high-inducing cousin was enough to land industrial hemp on the country’s blacklist following the Controlled Substances Act.

Although imported hemp has been legal since 1998, the federal government has been reluctant to remove the regulatory ban on the production of the useful crop. As a result, states are beginning to take matters into their own hands. In 2014, farmers in Colorado harvested the first legal, domestically-produced industrial hemp crop in more than half a century, and other states have since taken notice of the success of the Colorado industry. Hemp, Inc., through the operation of its 70,000 square-foot decortication and milling plant, is prepared to capitalize on this movement when legalization is achieved in North Carolina.

Since 2014, a total of 13 states – including South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky – have passed laws allowing industrial hemp farming for research and/or commercial purposes. In July, the state of North Carolina took a major step toward hemp legalization when it enacted a new law allowing for the prescription of hemp oils to patients with intractable epilepsy without the need for a pilot study. Hemp, Inc.’s management team highlighted the considerable promise provided by this decision.

“Many advocators and supporters feel this is a huge step for any level of medicinal use of the cannabis plant,” Craig Perlowin, secretary and director of Hemp, Inc., stated in a news release. “How long do you think it will take for North Carolina to allow it to be grown in its own backyard? After these amendments, I suspect not long at all.”

In the meantime, Hemp, Inc. is putting its decortication plant – which is among the largest in the world – to work by processing kenaf, an annual, non-wood fiber plant that’s indigenous to central Africa. For prospective shareholders, the company demonstrates tremendous potential upside, particularly as the movement to legalize industrial hemp production in North Carolina gains steam.

For more information, visit www.hempinc.com

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Cherubim Interests is a development-stage alternative construction and real estate development company operating under a hybrid business model that enables it to explore and secure various opportunities within the controlled environment agriculture sectors.

With its recent acquisition of an exclusive worldwide license to deploy a proprietary plant cultivation technology, Cherubim operates through its wholly owned BudCube Cultivation System USA subsidiary with plans to construct, deploy and lease scalable medical and recreational marijuana cultivation facilities for commercial applications.

Coupled with a real estate development and property management business model, BudCube can position itself anywhere in the world where the cultivation of cannabis is legal. The subsidiary’s unique business model positions the company to greatly benefit as more market participants seek to gain entry into a fast-growing market at an attractive price point.

Armed with the ability to lease a portable and scalable turn-key cultivation solution to growers, Cherubim aims to use its licensed solution to fill the gap for both first-time and experienced cultivators who may not have the capital resources to buy land, construct or tenant-improve existing structures for the optimum environment for developing a high-quality cannabis product.

BudCube also serves as a gateway to take advantage of increasing demand for grow space to accommodate cannabis and other plant species. In this respect, Cherubim’s ultimate plans are similar to that of mini-storage companies – think along the lines of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) – by leasing secured square footage to individuals and corporations who need it. The company’s hybrid business model again comes into play here, as Cherubim plans to offer ingle tenant or “macro solutions” in addition to traditional multi-tenant or “micro solutions.”

Single Tenant “Micro” Application: In this model, Cherubim will enter into an agreement to provide a total cultivation solution to a sole tenant. The company will acquire and develop the land required and deploy a “macro” solution to square footage specifications required by that tenant.

Multi-Tenant “Macro” Application: Here, Cherubim will select various land positions across the United States and develop and open select secured locations where multiple tenants can lease “micro” solutions to individuals. Each location will have varying sizes based on market research relative to geographical area.

Overall, Cherubim’s strategy is to specialize in a wide array of development activities, including due diligence, acquisition, planning, construction, renovation, and property management, that will position the company to upgrade its assets to full market potential while providing a significant return to investors. This comprehensive expertise allows Cherubim to provide beginning-to-end development programs for all acquisitions.

For more information, visit www.cherubiminterests.com or www.budcube.com

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Florida-based On The Move Systems has a unique knack for entering new markets. Backed by a consistent long-term industry vision, the company is focused on establishing a scalable business that leverages private aviation routes to facilitate private air charter, freight shipment, as well as medical and exotic / animal transport services.

For five years, On the Move Systems has offered a portfolio of transportation, logistics and business services to global clients and a transportation management market that is expected to grow to approximately $15 billion over the next half decade. The company has continuously pursued one goal: to make it easier and more affordable for consumers to locate and buy transportation and logistics booking services from private air travel to luxury ground transport.

On The Move Systems is now turning its attention to ways it can help retailers. Typically, large retailers, like Wal-Mart and Amazon, invest millions in technology in order to ensure their customers’ order are quickly packaged and shipped only to see their efforts spoiled by poor delivery service during the shipment’s “last mile.” This is a situation that customers rarely take kindly to and that often results in their vowing to take their business somewhere else. On The Move Systems intends to assist retailers with this problem using its proposed shared economy courier service which promises fast, on-demand, professional, courteous delivery service.

The company also means to approach smaller retailers about its proposed shared economy courier service. Compared to Amazon and Wal-Mart, smaller retailers have limited capital resources to invest in ensuring their customers receive last-mile satisfaction. As a result, there is a promising business opportunity here for On The Move Systems. The company aims to help smaller retailers match Wal-Mart’s and Amazon’s speed, efficiency and service and put them on better competitive footing with the retail giants, especially as the holidays approach and shippers face delayed delivery times.

Market estimates have measured the annual value of large last-mile shipments at approximately $8 billion and the value of smaller shipments at a much higher number. Retail industry analysts have also forecasted that companies that can influence last-mile solutions will be able to achieve smart growth and reap profits.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.onthemovesystems.com

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CD International Enterprises, an emerging leader in the field of industrial commodity distribution, is promoting rapid growth through the utilization of an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy. Earlier this week, the company took a significant step toward realizing this goal by entering into an agreement to acquire a holding company that recorded consolidated revenues of more than $25 million and consolidated net income of over $6 million in 2014, according to unaudited financial statements.

Based in Hong Kong, the acquisition candidate is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of HK International Finance & Investment Group Limited and has diversified operations in a collection of service industries – including hospitality, health endowment and construction design. CDII’s management team has already initiated its due diligence process for the acquisition, and it plans to complete an audit of the candidate’s recent financial statements by the end of this year.

“One of management’s focuses on growing the company again is growth through merger and acquisition,” Dr. James Wang, chairman and chief executive officer of CDII, stated in a news release. “Management is actively looking for merger and acquisition opportunities that align with our strategic priorities.”

Since terminating its manufacturing business in 2014 in favor of less capital intensive business opportunities, CDII has operated under two unique segments – including its mineral trading segment, which sources and distributes industrial commodities to China, and its consulting segment, which provides consulting services to firms that operate or are seeking business opportunities primarily in China and the Americas. Through these two segments, CDII has established a substantial business network throughout its target markets which is now playing a key role in its global expansion efforts.

While slumping mineral prices have had a considerable effect on its financial results in recent months, the company expects demand for its consulting services to steadily rise through 2017. This demand, in combination with the extended reach provided by its recently announced acquisition agreement, are expected to facilitate CDII’s financial growth in the months to come. For prospective shareholders, CDII’s progress toward the monetization of its established business network makes it an intriguing investment opportunity moving forward.

For more information, visit www.cdii.com

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Avant Diagnostics, an innovator in molecular diagnostics, this morning announced the start of calibration testing in preparation for the company’s validation study of OvaDx®, which will be used to support a pre-submission package to the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Avant expects to complete the calibration testing within 30 days.

OvaDx® is a sophisticated microarray-based test proposed for use in monitoring women previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Pre-clinical research studies with OvaDx® indicate high sensitivity and specificity for all types and stages of ovarian cancer.

Upon completion of the testing, Avant said it intends to test the previously purchased set of ovarian cancer specimens, including serial sets obtained from women previously diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which will serve as the validation study and form the basis of the pre-submission package that will be submitted to FDA for review and comment prior to the commencement of the OvaDx® 510(k) trial.

The validation study and 510(k) trial will be conducted in a double-blinded environment supervised by independent clinical research organization DOCRO, Inc. Validation study results are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal within six months of test completion and data analysis.

“The entire Avant team has been working tirelessly over the past few months to reach this critical milestone. We look forward to communicating to our shareholders and the markets as we move through the FDA negotiations and review of our 510(k) submission,” Gregg Linn, Avant’s CEO and president stated in the news release.

For more information, visit https://avantdiagnostics.wordpress.com/

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Two of the key facilitators of the burgeoning mcommerce space (which is on track to run at around a 25.72 percent CAGR through 2019 according to a report out in May from TechNavio), continue to be digital currencies and the proliferation of point-of-sale solutions that make it easier than ever to shop on the go. Driven by such rapidly evolving technologies as the cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($3.3 billion market cap) and other digital currencies, as well as near-field communication enabled point-of-sale software and devices, m-commerce is on pace to eclipse ecommerce’s growth rate of 13 percent, running as hot as 42 percent, according to a study published earlier this year by PayPal and global market research firm Ipsos.

That same study, spanning 22 countries, showed that 64 percent of users reportedly made purchases using apps, with mobile browsers representing only 52 percent of consumer purchases. This phenomena is driven by in-app and associated retailer conveniences, like instant payment confirmation and having in-app auto reminders for things such as coupons or discounts. Such underlying market dynamics are a major reason that enterprise accelerator, Alternet Systems (OTC: ALYI), moved in August to secure a strategic partnership between its wholly-owned Alternet Payment Solutions subsidiary, and Brazilian multichannel electronic point-of-sale solutions provider, MUXI. This move showcases ALYI’s aggressive launching of efforts across the e-commerce/m-commerce and legacy electronic point-of-sale landscapes, and how the company is constantly looking to supercharge innovative services and solutions that have true disruptive potential.

MUXI’s point-of-sale administration platform POSWEB® makes it easier than ever for the over 20 million merchants in the U.S. (who collectively represent the biggest point-of-sale market on earth, at 32 percent of the global $37 billion market in 2013) to implement mobile-friendly point-of-sale solutions, which allow total proprietor control over their assets and network. POSWEB is a patented, hardware agnostic, front-end transactional platform that was designed to be the ideal answer for building a robust, modern point-of-sale deployment. MUXI’s payment solution architecture also allows for seamless, remote software updating across all point-of-sale devices in the network, with applications in the platform that also allow tablets and smartphones to be used as part of a highly cost-effective mobile point-of-sale implementation. But these solutions from MUXI are also perfect for a much wider variety of operations as well, out beyond the primary growth markets of retail and hospitality targeted by ALYI, with everyone from acquirers, payment facilitators and issuers, to banking correspondents and value-added service providers benefiting from MUXI’s wide variety of payment solutions.

These are precisely the kinds of services and solutions needed to shake up the entrenched legacy point-of-sale payments infrastructure throughout North America, with its limited ability to manage mobile apps and cutting-edge payment systems, and bring about a paradigm shift towards a tighter feedback loop on the market segmentation end of things as well. After all, one of Alternet’s main focus points is big data analytics, mainly in marketing automation and micro-segmentation. Achieving pure micro-segmentation provides a much more granular, up-close view of customer demographic, psychographic and behavioral data. By looking at an ecosystem of payments, financial accounting and social media data, the huge market in advanced predictive analytics on both the finance/telecom side, and consumer mass market sides of the equation can be tapped for sizeable revenues, to be generated from high-quality customer segmentation analysis technologies and services. This information also helps identify and cater to new, unserved and underserved pockets of consumers, as well as providing the necessary payment processing momentum to provide solutions for the unbanked, or in global markets that need greater financial inclusion.

But Alternet Systems is not content to simply rest on the laurels of bringing transformative, big data-enabling point-of-sale solutions to the U.S. market. The company is also actively looking to execute a roll-up strategy in the digital currency exchange space. Looking to launch a global digital currency exchange presence via its wholly-owned subsidiary, OneMarket, ALYI has moved aggressively to acquire its New York State BitLicense, following Coinbase into the exchange game. The company has already invested considerable time and due diligence preparing to fully launch a global digital currency exchange subsequent to the BitLicense approval which, through OneMarket, would handle digital currencies, as well as foreign currencies, and commodities.

Digital currencies like Bitcoin have become an extremely attractive play amid a growing mobile wallet market set to hit $16 trillion by 2018 (Transparency Market Research, October 2014). Contenders like PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), as well as Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Apple Pay, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google Wallet, and Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon Payments, are all vying to capture big chunks of this much sought after space.

To learn more, visit www.alternetsystems.com

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The Aristocrat Group Corp. today reminded shareholders why its Ultra-Premium Handcrafted RWB Vodka has become one of the most awarded American-made vodkas. Even though the U.S. marketplace has become ever more crowded with various vodkas, ASCC’s focus on quality ingredients and premium distillation has outperformed the competition.

Created using only the highest quality Idaho russet potatoes and pure, mountain spring water, RWB is distilled in the American heartland using a unique four-column distillation process before being filtered five times to achieve a perfectly balanced vodka that has been subjected to the most exacting standards in the industry.

With its old-fashioned commitment to quality, RWB Vodka has become a hit with both consumers and critics alike. Since its launch approximately two years ago, RWB has received 18 tasting awards in competitions at home and abroad.

“Dumping a bunch of sugar in vodka and calling it ‘cotton candy flavor’ is not a recipe for a distilled spirit that will stand the test of time,” stated ASCC CEO Robert Federowicz. “The flavored vodka trend in the U.S. is dying out rapidly as consumers seek out traditional spirits made by experienced distillers for their craft cocktails.

“We set out to be a leader in this industry, not a follower—and our product speaks for itself,” he added.

Today RWB Vodka is available online and at nearly 300 locations. This ultra-premium vodka is the lynchpin of a growing portfolio of brands marketed and developed by the Aristocrat Group Corp. as the company works to capitalize on the rising commercial popularity of the domestic distilled spirits sector.

For more information on the distilled spirit, please visit www.RWBVodka.com

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Harvest Soul, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresh Promise Foods, Inc. (OTC: FPFI), today issued a press release to announce it has launched new organic GMO-free Harvest Soul Blended Juices, a line of 4 blended fruit and vegetable juices. The company also reported it has received the largest purchase order to date.

Harvest Soul Organic Blended Juices are a delicious line of fiber-rich blended juices chock-full of superfood vegetables and fruits, like spinach, pineapple, blueberries, kale and celery. Because this line of juices is never pressed, beneficial fiber is retained making these functional and organic juices supportive of a healthy lifestyle.

In the news release, Harvest Soul pointed out that research has also shown consumers who mostly rely on pressed juices to supply their daily nutrition miss out on the nutritive benefits that come from natural fiber and protein that is lost during the juicing process. Also, many cold-pressed juices contain a fair amount of sugar which, when consumed without fiber, can lead to a myriad of unhealthy results.

“We feel our Harvest Soul Organic Blended Juice line-up offers consumers a level of variety across our brand portfolio,” stated Kevin P. Quirk, Fresh Promise Foods CEO and Harvest Soul president. “We created this product line to co-exist with our Harvest Soul Chewable Juices, because while it retains high fiber content and is nutrient dense like the chewable line, the blended line will have broader appeal. By offering juices without the added seeds, nuts and berries at very competitive price-point, our new blended line will entice new consumers and open up new channels. This has clearly been demonstrated with a recent purchase order that surpasses any others we’ve received to date,” continued Quirk.

Harvest Soul Organic Blended Juices are being sold in 12 ounce bottles. All four flavors, Island Fruit, Sweet Green, Celery Beet and Sunrise Berry, are already available at Whole Foods Market locations and online at www.harvestsoul.com

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It looks like Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is picking up AT&T’s (NYSE:T) fumble of the Elephant Talk Communications (NYSE MKT: ETAK) ball after AT&T paid out ETAK $13.5 million to close down its contract with Mexican wireless company Iusacell (now AT&T Mexico). With software-defined network architecture and cybersecurity solutions provider ETAK now in the running to be the vendor for Verizon Partner Solutions, it’s clear that ETAK hasn’t missed a beat. A new Master Service Agreement with Verizon could be right around the corner for the company and the increasingly competitive nature of the telecom sector is brilliantly illustrated by Verizon scalping AT&T here, investing in a distributed architecture solution that can seamlessly provide users with bleeding-edge content delivery solutions.

The formation by ETAK of a special committee to explore JV, merger and strategic disposition alterations of its wholly-owned transaction cybersecurity solutions subsidiary, ValidSoft, speaks volumes here. Also, the news that ValidSoft has already quickly gone live with two UK banks, leveraging a device trust partnership with renowned consumer credit risk and analytics software company Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FICO) to deploy a solution using ValidSoft’s International Proximity Correlation capability, shows how attractive the company’s position is.

Application of the $13.5 million picked up on the Iusacell split has helped ETAK trim the fat too, allowing the company to eliminate debt overhang and giving it the procedural leeway to pull the trigger on corporate restructuring efforts that should reduce G&A costs by $5 million within this year alone. The share price has been climbing steadily since early this month and Friday’s spike to $0.63, a 75 percent jump, underscores the 50 percent gain since the start of the month so far. This is a fierce counter to the undervalued price point most analysts say the shares have seen since February. Notably, research firm Zacks just rated ETAK a short term strong buy and the company is making all the right moves to impress investors.

In fact, one big part of the company’s decision to get more aggressive with ValidSoft has been how poorly management believes the company’s share price accurately reflects the intrinsic value of the company and its ability to generate revenues on the strength of its mobile enabling solutions alone. Indeed, the global cybersecurity space was recently projected by Cybersecurity Ventures (Q3 2015) as being on track to grow by over 120 percent in the next five years, hitting upwards of $170 billion by 2020. This is a big opportunity for an innovator like ValidSoft and it stands to reason that ETAK’s tight synergy between the mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) and cybersecurity sides of its business will continue to give the company a decisive edge in the space.

The real success with ValidSoft of course comes from the ingenious balance struck between security and user experience that is achievable through the company’s voice authentication approach. Using a robust system which allows access, without the need for cumbersome and hard to remember passwords or hard tokens of some kind, is the brass ring of user authentication. Voice print capture keying is only as good as the biometrics engine behind it though and ValidSoft has gone to great lengths to ensure maximum security with the added benefits of a feature-rich environment, with the company’s solution allowing for configurability options like text-independent authentication, or the recital of a prompted phrase. Elephant Talk has been vital to ValidSoft’s ability to deliver its security software solutions via a true carrier-grade telecommunications platform, enabling ValidSoft the power to process transactions in real-time, and since its acquisition in 2010 by ETAK, the company’s MVNE and transaction cybersecurity units have rally gelled.

Take a look at the ongoing expansion of the mobile space, well-tracked by MobiLens® and Mobile Metrix® developer, comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), which recently indicated that the U.S. mobile market was at 76.6 penetration, as 186 million plus Americans now own smartphones. As subscriber bases swell to new heights, an MVNE like ETAK, with its ET Software DNA® 2.0 Platform, will continue to be a backbone solution for MVNO and mobile network operator (MNO) customers, who can experience as much as a 90 percent reduction in outlays while gaining the capacity to serve end users with a full set of mobile voice, SMS, and data services.

Mobile wallets are another key, fast-growing target in this area. With a report out in March from TechNavio forecasting a 36.8 percent CAGR through 2019, powered by the rapid proliferation of near-field communications (NFC) hardware and intense goading on by sector juggernauts like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), mobile wallets are shaping up to be a defining driver of the success of an outfit like ETAK. You wouldn’t be wrong to suggest even that a kind of war is being waged between the biggest sector players, with the victor(s) deciding who will dominate this yet-emergent space. One thing is certain about how all of this will shake out at any rate: m-commerce is and will continue to represent a retail sea change. Allied Market Research’s projection of a $5.25 trillion global market for so-called ewallets, released back in late 2013, has now effectively ceased to shock savvy investors.

Consumers have been flocking to the amenities m-commerce has to offer, and everyone from brands to retailers on the sell side are already banking on the very bright future that the associated gold mine of big data from consumers will provide. Gathering the kind rigorous, actionable consumer intelligence that m-commerce solutions can now ubiquitously provide, while so substantially improving the user experience at the same time, was a reality merely dreamt of by brands and retailers only a decade ago.

The recent news out that EUTV® Brazil (Surf Telecom®) has tapped ETAK to handle the core virtualized software services platform implementation is another clear indicator of the company’s overall health. The company’s platform is the key element needed to fully realize Surf Telecom’s vision of capturing a huge chunk of the 280 million strong mobile subscriber base in Brazil, now that Surf Telecom has been officially granted a Tier 1 license by Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency, Anatel. ETAK will enable Surf Telecom to bring mobile services to a massive user base, as well as provide Surf Telecom with the capacity to offer MVNE and mobile virtual network aggregator (MVNA) capabilities to Brazilian MVNOs. This is bread and butter for ETAK’s ET Software DNA 2.0 Platform and will allow Surf Telecom to deliver a broad spectrum of powerful 4G solutions to the market at noticeably more competitive prices. This arrangement reflects Anatel’s commitment to stimulating healthy market forces, as well as the cost-effectiveness of ETAK’s comprehensive platform.

The ET Software DNA 2.0 Platform also greatly simplifies overall administrative requirements, with its highly intuitive and easy to use interface. The platform uses networked-embedded technology as well, which enhances internal systemic redundancy, resulting in an architecture that is substantially more robust, offers tighter security and usage efficiencies, and which simultaneously promotes the DNA 2.0 Platform’s inherent modularity and scalability. The fact that it’s cheaper to deploy and easier to manage spells music to the ears of MVNOs, and ETAK’s technology will allow Surf Telecom to bring forward some truly cutting edge MVNA/MVNE strategies, tailored specifically to the Brazilian MVNO market.

MVNOs have to move or die and are thus constantly looking to expand services provided while improving their existing offerings. The ability to use a single, highly modular telecom solution like the one provided by ETAK allows MVNOs to capture new revenue streams without the typically associated overhead risk.

Learn more about Elephant Talk by visiting the company’s website at www.elephanttalk.com