"I saw an opportunity to make money at my age," he says. "It's an industry that allows young people to get in."

Like many youngsters, he had been doing odd jobs for friends and relatives, fixing their PCs from the age of 13. "I was doing web design and general troubleshooting."

But when he came under the direction of Wanganui Collegiate head of Commerce Mark Wilson in the fourth form (Year 10), he began to see the commercial possibilities of his work and started developing products to fit the upcoming 4G networks.

McIntyre approached a small Christchurch communications company. It liked his PowerPoint presentation and agreed to form a joint venture company, providing $20,000 in development funds.

But in these uncertain economic times, the funding ran out. Then a Wanganui schoolmate's father came to the rescue, arranging $80,000 in venture capital funding from the US.