Irish company Altobridge has announced a $7.8 million funding deal that will allow it to speed up the roll out of its new data optimisation technology around the world.
The Kerry-based firm, which specialises in technology that cuts the cost of delivering mobile voice and data across wireless networks, is working on its Data at the Edge product that provides intelligent mobile broadband data optimisation across wireless networks.
The company is combining this with local voice-switching and the optimisation of transmission and power to cut costs for companies delivering services.
The latest round of funding was a follow-on investment from Intel Capital and International Finance Corporation, and represents a major vote of confidence in the firm.
Fierce competiton
“It reflects the way we are growing at the moment,” said chief executive Mike Fitzgerald. “The deals we’re doing now are more bulky. Where we would have been doing 10 or 15 sites and then trying to get to 50 remote sites, now we’re doing a couple of hundred remote sites. The competition is fierce; sometimes you have to go ahead and manufacture before you’ve even signed the deal.”
The company has deployed its technology to more than 30 countries. It has already implemented a major deal in Malaysia, which involved the roll-out of more than 300 sites in a short period of time, and utilized the new technology.
Joint initiatives
The company also carries out a lot of work in research into technology as part of joint initiatives, including with UCC.
“We’ve done a lot of work into the area of data optimisation. It was something we had to do for our product, but we didn’t realise it had much wider applications. As users start to look for data, we’ve come up with smart ways of getting data closer to them, to actually have data at the base station. The idea is the most popular content they would be looking for will be close to them on the base station.”
Although it has particular advantages in the more remote areas served by Altobridge, the technology could also be applied to networks in urban areas. Already plans for commercial trials for urban Data at the Edge are being made, with network operators in the US, Europe and north Africa said to be interested.
The company is also looking to east Africa for future growth, and has been exploring potential deals with Irish satellite broadband firm Qsat.
