KonaTel (KTEL) Risk Analysis

The markets in which we operate are becoming increasingly competitive. Our current competitors generally include those that offer similar products and services. These competitors, including future new competitors who may emerge, may be able to develop comparable or superior solution capabilities, platforms, services, products and/or a series of services that provide a similar or more robust set of features and functionality than the technologies, products and services we offer. If this occurs, we may be unable to grow as necessary to make our business profitable. Regardless of whether we have superior products, many of these current and potential future competitors have a longer operating history in their current respective business areas and greater market presence, brand recognition, engineering and marketing capabilities, and financial, technological and personnel resources than we do. Existing and potential competitors with an extended operating history, even if not directly related to our business, have an inherent marketing advantage because of the reluctance of many potential customers to entrust key operations to a company that may be perceived as unproven or in the early stage of its development. In addition, our existing and potential future competitors may be able to use their extensive resources: - to develop and deploy new products and services more quickly and effectively than we can;- to develop, improve and expand their platforms and related infrastructures more quickly than we can;- to reduce costs, particularly hardware costs, because of discounts associated with large volume purchases and longer-term relationships and commitments;- to offer less expensive products, technologies, platforms and services as a result of a lower cost structure, greater capital reserves or otherwise;- to adapt more swiftly and completely to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements;- to take advantage of acquisition and other opportunities more readily; and - to devote greater resources to the marketing and sales of their products, technology, platform and services. If we are unable to compete effectively in our various markets, or if competitive pressures place downward pressure on the prices at which we offer our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer, and our business may fail.

Any special national carrier pricing agreement that was not available to us would allow that particular reseller to "undercut" all other resellers. This scenario could also apply to a national wireless carrier acquiring a reseller then allowing that reseller to operate with special wholesale pricing not available to other resellers. Any such event could have a substantial adverse impact on our business and revenues.

Our business operations are dependent upon secure information technology systems and telecommunications networks. Breaches of these systems and networks through cyberattack or other unauthorized access may have numerous negative effects on our business, including lost sales and damage to customer relationships; disruptions on our operations; reputational harm and negative publicity; lost trust from our customers, partners and employees; lawsuits resulting from the compromise of sensitive customer or employee information; costs of mitigation; and remediation and security enhancement expenses. See Part I, Item 1C, below.

Our operations are dependent, in part, upon network capacity provided by our telecommunications network and third-party telecommunications networks; data center services provider owned and leased infrastructure and capacity; server capacity located at the data center services provider partner or partners; and our own infrastructure and equipment. Collectively, this infrastructure, equipment and capacity must be sufficiently robust to handle all of our customers' wireless requirements, particularly in the event of unexpected surges in high-definition video traffic and network services incidents. We may not be adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth and related infrastructure demands from our customers. In addition, the bandwidth we have contracted to purchase may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including payment disputes, outages or such service providers going out of business. Any failure of these service providers or our own infrastructure to provide the capacity we require due to financial or other reasons may result in a reduction in or the interruption of service to our customers, leading to an immediate decline in revenue and possible additional decline in revenue, as a result of subsequent customer losses, which could result in the cessation of all or part of our business operations.

Our business has been and could continue to be affected by general economic and market conditions. Weakness in the United States and worldwide economy could have a negative effect on our operating results. Additionally, in a down-cycle economic environment, we may experience the negative effects of increased competitive pricing pressure, customer loss, slowdown in commerce over the Internet and corresponding decrease in traffic delivered over our network and failures by our customers to pay amounts owed to us on a timely basis or at all. Suppliers on which we rely for equipment, field services, servers, bandwidth, co-location and other services could also be negatively impacted by economic conditions that, in turn, could have a negative impact on our business operations or revenues. Flat or worsening economic conditions may harm our operating results and financial condition.

We are subject to risks related to public health crises, such as the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted our operations. Actions taken around the world to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus included restrictions on travel and quarantines in certain areas, and forced closures for certain types of public places and businesses. The coronavirus and actions taken to mitigate it have had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the geographical areas in which we operate. While it is unknown how long these conditions will last and what the complete financial affect will be on us, to date, and as a result of actions taken by management to mitigate a material impact to our financial statements or our operational results, we are not currently experiencing a material impact to our financial statements or our results of operations; however, a pandemic typically results in social distancing, travel bans and quarantines, which may result in limited access to our facilities, customers, management, support staff and professional advisors.  These, in turn, may not only impact our operations, financial condition and demand for our services, but our overall ability to react timely to mitigate the impact of this event. Given our small staff, if a key member of our team were disabled by COVID-19 or some other similar crisis, it could have a material negative impact on our business. Also, it may substantially hamper our efforts to provide our investors with timely information and to comply with our filing obligations under the Exchange Act with the SEC. If any pandemic were to last a prolonged period of time, we could see a decline in revenue due to the closure of customer businesses, which could then impact our ability to pay our short-term debts. Our concentration of revenue from a small group of Apeiron Systems' customers makes it reasonably possible that we are vulnerable to the risk of a long-term severe impact. Our dependence on certain suppliers to provide equipment to be distributed or sold to our customers could also be impacted if inventory shortages occur due to import or export restrictions resulting from any pandemic.

We, like all voice and data resellers, are dependent on the FCC licensed national carriers to provide services that can be resold for profit. The wireless carriers own/control their respective network (towers) and provide the wireless service. Resellers do not own network and are dependent on the national carriers to provide a reseller program.  These carriers could eliminate a reseller program or implement new policies that could reduce profit margins, making any applicable program unprofitable. They could also implement market restorations reducing markets we could sell into, which would have a direct adverse effect on our current and future prospects. Similarly, one of these national carriers could reduce their own retail pricing, with no corresponding reduction in their wholesale pricing, which could create a situation where a reseller is unable to make enough profit to sustain operations. We may be unable to meet our current or future obligations or to adequately develop existing or future opportunities if we cannot raise sufficient capital. If we are unable to obtain any required capital for an extended period of time, we may be forced to discontinue or curtail our business operations and we may fail.

We are a public "reporting company" in the United States, and accordingly, subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and other federal securities laws, rules and regulations, including compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The costs of preparing and filing annual and quarterly reports and other information with the SEC and furnishing audited and reviewed financial statements in reports filed with the SEC, along with required communications with our shareholders, are substantial. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur costs associated with continuing as a public company, including, but not limited to, legal, accounting, filing and other related costs and expenses. Failure to comply with the applicable securities laws could result in private or governmental legal action against us or our officers and directors, which could have a detrimental impact on our business and financial condition, the value of our common stock and the ability of our shareholders to resell their common stock.