SpiderCloud Wireless is coming out of stealth mode, targeting operators with a new technology that promises to beef up indoor coverage and capacity for the enterprise – but not the way it's usually done.
Many in-building systems that are deployed today in hospitals, campuses and large offices use distributed antenna systems (DAS) or revolve around an enterprise's ability to use Wi-Fi in a building and macro cellular networks outside with dual-mode devices.
But SpiderCloud's system, known as an Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN), essentially takes how E-RAN works outside and moves it to the inside.
Executives say they've been working on the solution for about two years now. The company is comprised of industry veterans formerly with Flarion Technologies, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm and Juniper Networks. Heading the team is CEO Michael Gallagher, former president of Flarion, which was acquired by Qualcomm.
Ronny Haraldsvik, vice president of marketing, says SpiderCloud's system is faster and easier to deploy than traditional DAS or pico cells, which take a lot of planning. The SpiderCloud platform can be installed in a weekend and configured to target just one corner of an office building.
Unlike fixed mobile solutions that use dual-mode devices that switch from the macro network to Wi-Fi in the enterprise, SpiderCloud's system allows enterprises to use their existing mobile devices without modification, according to Allan Baw, director of technical marketing.
Baw and others at SpiderCloud with RF engineering experience lived through the early days of PCS deployments, when it was a challenge to get coverage inside buildings like casinos or airports. "We are eliminating the complexities," he says, noting that hospitals pose an especially tough environment for wireless because of the way they're built.
As with solutions like femtocells, it boils down to who's going to pay for it. So far, the modeling with some European operators involves sharing the cost of putting the technology in place and in return, the operator gets a commitment for a certain number of subscribers.
With more and more users consuming data with smartphone devices and doing so in office settings, SpiderCloud figures its technology should be in high demand.
Privately held, SpiderCloud raised $35 million to commercialize its E-RAN system. Testing is getting under way with European mobile operators this month, with general availability expected in 2010.
The company is backed by Charles River Ventures, Matrix Partners and Opus Capital.