Both technologies promise to bring high-speed Internet to cell phones so that devices like the iPhone can become much more useful. Counting on being part of the infrastructure no matter which wireless gamble pays off, BridgeWave Communications has raised $10 million in a fourth round of funding.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based BridgeWave makes wireless technology that can transmit data at a high speed from one point to another over two to four miles. The wireless equipment can transmit data at a speed of one gigabit per second, as long as the data moves in a straight line from point to point. That's fast enough to serve as the wireless link from future WiMax and LTE base stations to a carrier's backbone telecommunications network, said Amir Makleff, president and CEO of BridgeWave.
Makleff said it's the equivalent of having the networking speed of a fiber-optic cable but on a wireless network.
The round was led by both Intel Capital and Core Capital, with participation from prior investors. Sriram Viswanathan, director of the mobility sector for Intel Capital, said that as the deployment of WiMax gets underway from companies such as Sprint and Clearwire, carriers must expand their backhaul capacity to be able to support high volumes of calls and internet traffic in urban areas.
BridgeWave has followed a long road. It started in 1999 as a developer of high-frequency microwave technologies. It planned to use the technology for a new kind of data broadcasting -- a local multipoint distribution system -- which would use spectrum allocated by the Federal Communications Commission. It was a kind of early version of WiMax, which is cheaper and has a wider wireless network range.
But the LMDS market dried up with the bursting of the bubble in 2000. BridgeWave, which raised $40 million in its first phase of life, struggled and went through a recapitalization in 2003. Then it retooled its business plan to piggyback on the potential of WiMax, which Intel has been touting as a disruptive force in the cell phone industry. The cell phone industry, meanwhile, has moved to back the LTE technology for its future networks. In the midst of this rivalry, the company has raised $35 million since its recapitalization.
"We retooled the company to focus on this opportunity," Makleff said.
In 2004, the company embarked on its current direction, with a focus on using the wireless technology to distribute data from one point to another point, such as from one tower to another. The technology can be used to beam data from one rooftop to another, but it has to be in the line of sight.
The company started shipping its first products in 2004. Up until now, the technology was focused on enterprises. But with WiMax and LTE, it will become part of the backbone for vast consumer wireless internet networks.
Makleff thinks the first WiMax infrastructure deployments will start in 2009. The company competes with rivals such as GigaBeam and Loea in the U.S. as well a couple of other rivals overseas. But Makleff said he believes his company has about 70 percent market share now.
The company has 65 employees, mostly in Santa Clara. Makleff said the company is nearing profitability but wanted to have "dry powder" for the future. He said he expects this to be the last round of capital.