ATMs have played a big role in the banking industry since their introduction in 1967 by Barclays Bank. However, while the ATM industry continues to develop the hardware, software and feature upgrades, the network infrastructure behind the ATM has experienced very little change. Ever since TCP/IP took over from the old X.25 and SNA, banks have been looking for the right wireless network solution to offer the cost savings and the ease of deployment promised by TCP/IP technology.

Wired leased lines have failed to offer these benefits as the costs have remained high, especially in developing countries. Most of these countries have limited wired networks due to cost, geographic and climate factors which have forced these countries to adopt VSAT ATM services. VSAT solutions are both expensive and require technical expertise that can have a significant impact on the deployment cycle. The only other communications technology available in developing countries on a national basis are the mobile wireless networks that have been put in place to successfully service the emerging markets for telephony services and internet access.

Symstream's technology allows ATMs to send and receive financial transaction data across GSM networks via a data transmission method that is comparable in reliability to a leased data line and even more secure. The public national GSM networks offer network coverage comparable to satellite, while providing many of the benefits of a public mobile network that must be available anytime, anywhere, around the clock, cost effectively.

Symstream's technology uses a patented communications protocol based on multi-dimensional symbols instead of conventional bits. This protocol offers many advantages in the communications environment, such as the ability to send more data in the same time slot that it takes to send a bit or a byte of data. The symbolic nature of the protocol adds another layer of security at the physical transmission level and makes it very difficult to read the information stored in the data that is transmitted.