A wholly-owned subsidiary of Bermuda-based Challenger International Ltd. has been awarded a new, hi-tech, highway traffic management contract in the US.

Intelect Inc., out of corporate headquarters in Richardson, Texas, will provide voice, data and video control in an Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS) for 88 miles of interstate highway across southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. The IVHS is growing across the US through local and national funding projects.

Challenger's subsidiary has been awarded a contract for a 10 node PANTHER installation for the IVHS, one of the first traffic management systems in the US to provide seamless freeway management systems across state borders.

Intelect vice president for sales and marketing, Mr. Bill Barkhurst, said, "This order demonstrates PANTHER's suitability for multi-location, multi-protocol SONET applications in private fibre optic networks.

"PANTHER was chosen in a highly competitive situation by Alcatel Cable Contracting (N.A.) as sub-contractor for TRW Transportation Systems for the `Artimis' project.

"We believe PANTHER is a cost-effective solution that meets all technical requirements and environmental criteria in the IVHS, power utility networks and wide-area fibre campus network applications.'' Intelect introduced the PANTHER product line in September, announcing a SONET-based architecture, supporting OC-1 and OC-3 protocols. The products fill a niche for a wide segment of the market that wants to use fibre optics, but doesn't want to invest in the only other available equipment, which are high capacity, expensive multiplexer systems. One PANTHER node can accommodate any number of different protocols.

Intelect is a leading international provider of quality multi-media communications systems focused on delivering integrated voice, data and video solutions for communications-critical applications.

Challenger International, of Reid House on Church Street, completed its acquisition of Intelect in June, as the Bermuda company continues to change its primary business activity to expand Intelect's operations and extend its technology and products into commercial markets.

Challenger is still in the throes of selling off non-Intelect business, such as the Savage Corporation. A definitive agreement to sell the unit for $33 million to the firm's president and CEO was signed during the first week of October, and was expected to close today. The deal would also have the buyers assume up to $6 million in debt. Net proceeds to Challenger from the sale are projected at $22 million , with half of that being used to retire the debt incurred in the acquisition of Intelect, Inc. and to pay out minority interests in Savage.