Hi Frank,
Any word on that opportunity with Sprint?
Regards,
Fran
Francis D. McGrath
CEO
Color Broadband Inc.
301 E. Ocean Blvd Suite 2060
Long Beach, CA 90802
562.983.7880 #665 office
562.244.4465 mobile
562.436.5003 fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of Frank Keeney
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 2:02 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [SOCALWUG] Motorola Snaps Up MeshNetworks
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3436581
Motorola Snaps Up MeshNetworks
By Ed Sutherland
In a move aimed at boosting its broadband networking, cellular giant
Motorola announced today it is purchasing MeshNetworks.
Acquiring the wireless mesh networking company "brings sales, support and
brand recognition that a startup could never match in a million years," says
Rick Rotondo, vice president of marketing for the Maitland, Fla-based
company. "We won't be MeshNetworks any more."
Although terms of the sale were not disclosed, the two companies see
benefits in the union.
The sale "accelerates our technology and roadmap with mesh technology," says
Adrieanne Dimopoulos of Motorola's Commercial, Government and Industrial
Solutions Sector (CGISS).
The purchase of MeshNetworks provides Motorola customers "a broader
solutions portfolio to build scalable broadband wireless networks capable of
delivering next generation content including data, voice, location and voice
over IP (VoIP) services," according to Motorola.
MeshNetworks' technology "enhances the public safety ability to handle
mobile data," according to Dimopoulos.
"The acquisition also represents another step in Motorola's commitment to
deliver seamless mobility to all of our customers," said Greg Brown,
president of Motorola's CGISS. The purchase will benefit "all of our
businesses ranging from mission critical and enterprise markets to
automotive and home entertainment applications," said Brown.
For MeshNetworks, the purchase by Motorola "legitimizes the whole mesh
networking concept," says Rotondo. Motorola "really understood to get to the
next level, mesh networking was the architecture to get you
there...centralized cell towers weren't going to work."
Founded in 2000, MeshNetworks' customers include the government, law
enforcement and public safety agencies.
Motorola points to MeshNetworks as a "leading developer" of the "advanced
routing technology" behind mesh networking.
The announcement comes just months after Motorola began licensing
MeshNetworks' MeshConnex software while also becoming a reseller of the
MeshNetworks Enabled Architecture (MEA) line of products. In addition to the
August licensing agreement, Motorola is an investor in MeshNetworks through
its Motorola Ventures investment unit.
The purchase, expected to be final by year's end, "gives us access to a
whole slew of markets from telematics to the digital home," says Rotondo.
As part of Motorola, MeshNetworks will have increased visibility and ability
to reach new customers by a large factor, according to Rotondo. The
Schaumberg, IL-based Motorola has 80,000 employees -versus the MeshNetworks'
staff of 80-and reported over $27 billion in sales for 2003.
Motorola already has one fixed-wireless broadband solution for residential
and business customers, called Canopy. Rotondo says that technology will
"provide outstanding backhaul for mesh networks."
He also believes the public safety market could be worth as much as $1
billion for mesh networks over the next few years, helped along by some
recent deregulation: the FCC recently gave the okay for companies to use
off-the-shelf 802.11a gear for public safety networks based in the 4.9Ghz
band. MeshNetworks had said it would investigate the idea of using the
4.9Ghz band to create metro-scale networks for what it terms
"mission-critical" applications, such as video surveillance.
-------------------------------------------------
Frank Keeney
http://www.wlanparts.com
