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March 13, 2006
In-building cellular gets a boost
Several venture capital firms and Intel are betting that mobile network operators are going to do all they can to make sure that WiFi networks (with VOIP enabled) have some competition in the enterprise and small office/home office market, and have therefore invested £8.5M ($14.7M) in the latest round of finance for ipaccess, a manufacturer of in-building cellular basestation equipment.
The syndicate includes Scottish Equity Partners, Intel Capital Corporation and French VC, Rothschild & Cie Gestion.
"The product portfolio that ipaccess currently offers, and the technology it has in development, is strategically important to mobile network operators… to compete effectively with vendors offering unlicensed WiFi devices and solutions." Jean-Michel Beghin of Rothschild
The startup is a manufacturer of this small-sized in-building cellular base-station, as well as the gear carriers need to manage it all.
The new capital will be used to fuel its entry into residential or consumer markets, as well as introduce so-called 3G (third generation cellular) products for home and office use. It also sells through system integrators into the enterprise and campus market where the cost of using its technology amounts to less than a euro per customer per day, according to the firm.
Its 3G access point for the home is expected to sell for about €200, according to a webcasted interview with the firm’s MD Stephen Mallinson.
Ipaccess was founded in 1999, employs 85 and is a spin-out from TTPCom, a publicly traded UK firm that long been developing software stacks for cellphones.
Read- ip.access Secures £8.5 Million Funding to Accelerate Growth (press release)
Posted on March 13, 2006 11:36 AM | Posted to Wireless | Permalink
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