intel capital

Qualcomm invests in femtocell maker ip.access

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Femtocell and picocell maker ip.access received a financial boost from Qualcomm. The company joined existing investors Cisco, Intel Capital, ADC, Motorola Ventures, Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion and Amadeus Capital Partners to fund ip.access' Oyster 3G femtocell system, which uses the residential broadband connection to deliver a 3G signal in the home. ip.access is rumored to have inked a femtocell deal with AT&T.

This move by one of the technology giants in the wireless industry is being seen as validating the concept as well as ramping up the competitive stakes. "Having [Qualcomm's] weight behind us and behind femtocells is good," Andy Tiller, VP of marketing at ip.access, told sister publication FierceWireless Europe. "It's beginning to look like this market is about scale. We need big friends in that kind of market, and Qualcomm is one of those friends."

Ovum analyst Jeremy Green says that while Ovum is still somewhat skeptical about the femtocell business case, Qualcomm's decision to invest in ip.access gives the femtocell proposition more credibility.

This is the second big European announcement from Qualcomm this week. On Monday, the firm announced it was purchasing a 40 MHz chunk of L-band spectrum, prompting speculation that it was planning to use it to deliver mobile TV service.

For more:
- see this press release

Related stories:
Qualcomm wins U.K. spectrum but coy about plans. See this story about Qualcomm's spectrum win
T-Mobile invests in femtocell maker. Read this T-Mobile femtocell article
Rumor: ip.access wins femtocell deal with AT&T. See this article on ip.access and AT&T

Technology-neutral European auctions opportunity for technology companies

Mon, 19 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

European governments have taken an unprecedented move to offer wireless broadband licenses on a technology-neutral basis, and technology companies are taking advantage to foster the proliferation of their technology interests and for a relatively cheap price tag.

Qualcomm last week won U.K.-wide L-band spectrum for $12.9 million, but the company is being vague about its plans for the band, saying it wants to "explore emerging business models and advanced mobile technologies."

Said Andrew Gilbert, an executive VP of Qualcomm: "Acquiring this spectrum will enable us to develop, test and explore a variety of innovative wireless services and technologies that will benefit European consumers and the wireless industry as a whole. The company has a long history of innovation and creating new technology markets."

Earlier this month, Intel Capital was among the winners of Sweden's auction of the 2.6 GHz band, acquiring 50 MHz of TDD spectrum for $26.5 million. Intel is seeking partners to build and operate a WiMAX network. The company plans to rent out the license to partners rather than sell it to grow WiMAX and the market for its Centrino WiMAX-enabled chips.

Of course, Qualcomm has a history of pushing new technologies via license ownership, with mobile TV being the latest. As it was going around evangelizing CDMA in the 1990s, the company bought licenses to begin Leap Wireless to push CDMA. Maybe it wants to prove that Ultra Mobile Broadband, the 4G path for CDMA technology, is a viable one.

It will be interesting to see who bids in the auctions going forward. Might Google make a play for a license and look for someone to run the network so it can guarantee its services on a carrier's network? Will Intel look to win more licenses, and what in the world is Qualcomm doing?--Lynnette

Intel among winners of 2.6 GHz spectrum in Sweden

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Intel Capital was among the winners of Sweden's auction of he 2.6 GHz band, acquiring 50 MHz of TDD spectrum for $26.5 million. According to local press reports, Intel is seeking partners to build and operate a WiMAX network. The company, which recently plunked down $1 billion in the new Sprint-Clearwire WiMAX business, reportedly plans to rent out the license to partners rather than sell it.

Intel has made it clear the it isn't interested in becoming a service provider to push WiMAX. As part of the Clearwire deal, Intel has the option of wholesaling service from the new operator, but Intel Vice President Sriram Viswanathan told analysts that the company's primary focus "is to enable the platform to have WiMAX available across a variety of devices. You have to expect we're going to be primarily a technology supplier."

The other winners for 2.6 GHz spectrum, which is technology and service neutral, each acquired FDD allocations: H3G Access (2x10 MHz), Tele2 (2x20 MHz), Telenor (2x20 MHz) and TeliaSonera Mobile Networks (2x20 MHz).

TeliaSonera paid the most for its license, $93 million, while Intel paid the least. H3G Access, with only 20 MHz of spectrum, paid $49 million.

To read more about Sweden's 2.6 GHz auction:
- take a look at this telecoms.com article

Time is of the essence for Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX deal

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Both Sprint and Clearwire sit in a holding pattern when it comes to their mobile WiMAX plans as the two try to hammer out a new deal and entertain outside deals. Clearwire is in cash-conservation mode as it scaled back its mobile WiMAX rollout plans earlier this year, while Sprint has yet to launch any more markets beyond the three that were soft launched at the end of 2007.

With WiMAX's success heavily resting on a joint build-out between the two operators or at least a nationwide rollout this year from Sprint, you would think one of the major WiMAX players would run to the rescue at this crucial time for the technology's commercial debut.

Back in February, the Street.com reported that Sprint was going to spin off its Xohm unit to form a joint venture with Clearwire with the help of a $2-billion investment from Intel Capital. The deal was expected to be announced in a matter of days, but nothing has happened. Motorola, too, has a viable interest in seeing mobile WiMAX roll out on a nationwide basis as it has reinvented itself as a leading WiMAX supplier. We haven't seen it step up either.

I can only imagine what the hold up is. I suspect Sprint understands WiMAX is its future and rejects any plans that would see it give up control of the business. So it appears a spin-off might not be in the cards. Of course, a spin-off is more ideal for any investor as it separates the WiMAX business from the severe core problems Sprint is facing.

At any rate, the longer it takes for WiMAX to roll out, the more the technology's advantage in the 4G market erodes.--Lynnette

Rumor: Intel to facilitate Sprint/Clearwire deal

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Rumors are circulating again that Sprint Nextel will spin off its Xohm WiMAX broadband unit and form a joint venture with Clearwire. The Street.com is reporting the deal between the two firms will include a $2 billion investment from Intel Capital.

If this rumored deal actually goes through, it will give a much-needed vote of confidence to WiMAX. Many companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week said much of WiMAX's future was resting on Sprint's Xohm business. Without Xohm, mobile WiMAX may not be anything other than a niche play.

Find out the latest on Xohm at the FierceWireless co-located event "4G and Beyond" on April 2 at CTIA Wireless 2008. Barry West, CTO of Sprint and head of the Xohm unit will be a keynote speaker and will provide a status update on Xohm. Here's a link to the agenda.

For more on Sprint and Clearwire:
- see this Street.com report

Related articles:
WiMAX's future still rests heavily in Sprint's hands Report
Sprint launches three markets as planned Report

Intel continues global WiMAX investment push

Mon, 22 May 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Intel Capital continues to invest in WiMAX companies around the world. The latest investments call for collaborative efforts between Intel and two established companies. The investment in Egyptian company Orascom Telecom WiMAX is the first investment from the Intel Capital Middle East and Turkey fund announced in November of 2005. Orascom will focus its efforts on working with governments and companies throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia to obtain spectrum licenses for the deployment of WiMAX services. Intel Capital has also invested in Dutch company Enertel WiMAX, which is targeting the deployment of WiMAX services in the Netherlands. In addition to funding and personnel, Enertel is also contributing an existing 3.5 GHz spectrum license to support this new joint venture.

The new companies created as a result of the collaborative effort will be majority owned by Orascom Telecom and Enertel, respectively, with Intel Capital as the lead investor. Intel Capital will also provide access to the significant technical and marketing resources of Intel. Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital, said that both investments are part of the vision of a World Ahead that Intel CEO Paul Otellini outlined earlier this month at the World Congress on Information Technology.

During the past year, Intel Capital has announced investments in a number of WiMAX and wireless broadband service providers around the world. Among them are PIPEX Wireless in the UK, DBD in Germany, Unwired Australia, Neovia in Brazil, and MVSNet in Mexico. Intel Capital has also been active in supporting WiMAX infrastructure through investments in Navini, a provider of WiMAX base stations and modems, and Beceem, a provider of mobile WiMAX chip sets.

For more on Intel Capital's global WiMAX investments:
- see this Indiantelevision report

PLUS: South Korean developer of WiMAX products POSDATA has licensed IP from Silicon Dutch company Hive for the design of a baseband chip that will be embedded in mobile WiMAX terminal chips. Report

ALSO: ENTEL Chile is deploying the first WiMAX network in the country using Alvarion's BreezeMAX 3500. Release

picoChip secures $20.5M in third round funding

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:01:36 -0400

The spirit of innovation should be rewarded, so it is gratifying to see UK company picoChip securing $20.5 million in third round funding. The round brings the company's total funding to $41.5 million. Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild, and Intel Capital joined previous investors Pond Venture Partners and Atlas Venture to put the deal together. Intel Capital's Sriram Viswanathan said, "Intel clearly believes in ubiquitous broadband wireless communications, with the appropriate standards-based technology fitting the need." (Intel is making its own contribution to ubiquitous anywhere-anytime-any-platform communication with its new unified solution).

Forward Concepts' Will Strauss says this is a good investment for Intel. "PicoChip has the only massively-parallel, fully reprogrammable architecture out there -- with the development tools to go with it... It really works," Strauss said. The WiMax Forum's interoperability tests will begin next month, so reconfigurability is especially important.

picoChip's Rupert Baines told CommsDesigns that the new infusion will be used to hire more engineers to work on developing the company's WiMax and W-CDMA. Baines said that Intel's presence among the investors does not mean that picoChip is beginning to lean more heavily in the direction of WiMax at the expense of W-CDMA. "Intel probably invests more in W-CDMA, but it's not reported as much," he said.

I agree with Strauss that if Intel and others are looking for versatile and nimble products, picoChip is a good bet. The company's silicon offers flexibility to address several wireless standards, including WiMax, and allows operators to offer voice, video data and services, and mobility. The five-year-old company, located in Bath, England, has developed the world's highest performance DSP tuned for wireless, and it supplies complete reference designs for WiMax and HSDPA.

For more on picoChips latest funding round:
- see Patrick Mnnion's commsdesign report
- and this picoChip press release