There are sound reasons to believe that Software Radio should be able to beat the house broker’s estimates too. That’s because a few months ago the US Coast Guard (USCG) published new regulations which require more commercial vessels operating in US territorial waters - such as fishing boats, tugs, and ferries - to install and operate a USCG-certified AIS transceiver by the end of April 2016. Some categories of vessels are required to install a Class A type transceiver and others an AIS Class B type device. AIS is an international maritime tracking and monitoring technology developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and which has become the technology of choice to enhance maritime domain awareness across the world. In particular, the technology is used for vessel tracking; anti-collision; search and rescue; waterway, port and coast security; pollution monitoring; and fisheries management.
The key here is that failure by owners of vessels navigating through US waters to install these AIS transceivers will invalidate their insurance, so there are strong reasons to support Mr Tucker's expectations of an uptick in demand for his company’s USCG certified Class A and Class B transceivers from customers addressing the US commercial boat market. The USCG mandate covers between 12,000 to 17,000 boats, and with Software Radio selling its kit to distributors for $1,000 (£646.90) a pop, then even if the company only captures a small slice of this particular market then it could generate a significant amount of revenue in the current financial year.