SWIFTCALL, ONE of the first telecoms companies to compete against eircom, has acquired the rights to a wireless broadband technology it says could provide coverage to the whole State for just €5 million.
Tom McCabe, Swiftcall founder and majority owner, says the new technology, which it is branding as Swi-fi, is totally "disruptive" and will challenge the broadband status quo.
The technology is similar to Wi-Fi, which is used to provide wireless connections in homes and public places. The signals are received using existing television aerials and coverage is up to 30km from each base station according to Mr McCabe. Broadband speeds of 2Mb/sec will be offered and the connection will be symmetric, meaning it provides the same speed in both directions. This makes it suitable for voice over IP (VoIP) telephone services.
Swiftcall plans to charge €9 a month for the broadband package, with a pre-paid option of €1 a day for occasional users. Telephone calls will cost two cent a minute to any landline - in Ireland or internationally - while calls to other Swi-fi users will be free.
"This technology was rolled out in part of the UK and was working robustly," says McCabe, "They went bust because they didn't have a telecoms company behind them."
Swiftcall has received a test licence from ComReg so that it can conduct trials at three sites, one in Dublin, another on the east coast and in the southwest. It is looking for chambers of commerce and credit unions to sign up as local partners. Drogheda Chamber of Commerce is the first to do so. Mr McCabe says Swiftcall will provide coverage in any village where 20 users sign up for service.
Swiftcall was founded by Mr McCabe in 1994 and was subsequently bought over by Japanese telecoms company KDD, now known as KDDI, in 1998.
The current management team bought the company back in 2006 for a price believed to be in excess of €6 million. Mr McCabe subsequently bought a 55 per cent stake from management.
"People are saying to me, if it's that good, someone else would be doing it," admits Mr McCabe.
"That's what they said to me when I set up Swiftcall to compete with eircom."
