UTILX Files Patent on Revolutionary Wire Rope Design

Business Wire, Dec 16, 1999

KENT, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1999--

UTILX Corporation (Nasdaq:UTLX) announced that it has developed an entirely new class of internally lubricated steel cables, known by their manufacturers and users as wire ropes. Wire ropes are used extensively in mining, timber, marine, bridge and other applications. The primary cause of wire rope failure is the frictional wear on the innermost strands as a rope is repeatedly flexed in use. The Company's Trynergy(TM) brand technology represents the three-way or "triangular synergy" between three UTILX technologies. The first of these is the inclusion of a proprietary permeable tube within the wire rope to deliver special permeable lubricant to the cable over its entire life. These proprietary permeable lubricants represent the second corner of the Trynergy triangle. While conventional high molecular weight lubricants and greases would not diffuse through a tube, the Trynergy molecular lubricants diffuse through the tube wall and react with water vapor in the environment to form a lubricating film. The chemical technology is flexible allowing UTILX to customize the lubricant properties for virtually any application. The last corner of the Trynergy triangle is the proprietary fluid delivery systems, which makes continuous application and significantly longer wire rope life a reality. A patent application was filed in November.

"Because this new technology promises superior reliability and longevity and a lower total cost of ownership compared to current lubricated wire rope designs, we expect to have a major impact on the $150 million annual lubricated wire rope market," said William Weisfield, President and CEO of UTILX. "Furthermore, the technology may expand the global lubricated wire rope market two-fold by creating new applications which were previously infeasible. Trynergy(TM) cables and components are scheduled to debut in the fall of 2000 and we are currently interviewing potential partners to speed their way to market."

UTILX Corporation provides proprietary life extension technologies and installation services for telephone, power and industrial infrastructure in the U.S., Canada, and Europe through a network of regional sales and service centers. The Company also provides these products and services in Asia and South America through licensed business partners.

This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company's existing and future products and services and future operating results that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The words "believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect the Company's actual results include competitive pressures, levels of work received from key customers, weather, regulatory, other matters affecting the utility industry in general, and any matters that could cause sudden changes in customers' demand for the Company's services. The Company's contracts typically allow for cancellation on short notice. Reference is made to the Company's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for a more detailed description of such factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.