Digiweb has signed an agreement with a Nasdaq-listed wireless broadband equipment vendor that will futureproof the company to deploy voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and eventually WiMax on a national basis across Ireland, siliconrepublic.com has learned.
Drogheda-headquartered Digiweb, which provides DSL, wireless and satellite broadband across the country, has signed an agreement to deploy Florida-based Airspan Networks’ WipLL wireless multipoint platform for the nationwide extension of Digiweb’s broadband services.
Initial shipments will be completed by the end of July 2005, with significant ongoing business projected over the coming years.
The news comes hot on the heels of Digiweb’s acquisition of Tiscali’s Italian satellite broadband customer base last week. Digiweb was also recently selected by the Government to provide broadband access to 1,428 schools throughout Ireland as part of a three-year project.
Airspan’s WipLL platform is a low-cost high-performance fixed wireless access system designed to deliver high-speed data, VoIP and multimedia services to residential, small business and enterprise customers.
Digiweb’s WipLL broadband wireless network will operate in the 3.4-3.8GHz and 5.8GHz bands, with dedicated customer links offering a variety of service speeds. Digiweb’s customers span all sectors including government, corporate and residential in Ireland and Europe.
Colm Piercy, managing director of Digiweb, commented: “WipLL perfectly complements our market strategy and network rollout, providing us with a leading-edge technology that will enable us to address our target market of high-end business broadband customers in the most economical and flexible manner, and allowing us to offer both data and VoIP solutions.
“Our corporate customers require the latest technological innovations in our networks, and the WipLL product line provides us with the best solutions for this market sector. Airspan’s evolution path for the WipLL platform, which will make it the basis of many of Airspan’s WiMax offerings, assures us that our initial investments will be upgradeable in future.”
By John Kennedy
