In addition to Vivato, Intel announced investments in three more Wi-Fi companies: rovingIP.net, a clearinghouse for Wi-Fi service providers; Broadreach Networks Limited, a broadband Internet access provider; and Pronto Networks, a provider of carrier-class OSS solutions for large hot spot networks. Financial terms of the investments were not disclosed. The Intel Communications Fund now has completed seven investments in Wi-Fi companies since October when Intel announced plans to invest $150 million in companies pursuing Wi-Fi technology.
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http://www.rovingip.netOther Wi-Fi companies that Intel has funded include:
- STSN, a provider of wired and wireless high-speed data communications to hotels and conference centers worldwide. The Salt Lake City-based company currently provides services to some 120,000 guestrooms and 4,000 hotel meeting rooms worldwide. Intel Capital first invested in STSN in 1999.
- TeleSym, a start-up developing software that delivers high-quality voice over wireless enterprise networks. The software runs on mobile PCs and PDAs. TeleSym is based in Bellevue, Washington.
- Cometa, which plans to provide broadband, wholesale, wireless Internet access based on 802.11 technology nationwide. Cometa Networks will offer its wholesale services to other telecom service providers, ISPs, cable companies and wireless carriers.
- In February 2003, Vivato introduced a 2.4 GHz Indoor Wi-Fi Switch that provides an indoor range of up to 300 meters with standard Wi-Fi clients. The Vivato switch is a flat panel unit, which resembles a plasma television screen, operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency band and delivers three simultaneous beams of Wi-Fi. Designed to be wall-mounted, the panel employs Vivato’s PacketSteering technology to dynamically shape very narrow beams, about nine degrees each, which transmit and receive Wi-Fi on a packet-by-packet basis to maximize capacity and minimize interference. A single switch can support about 150 enterprise users and tracks active users as they move about the office within its 100-degree field of view.