Ottawa start-up looks to patch up spotty indoor wireless coverage 16 August, 2005 By Liam Lahey

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And when has that ever actually happened?

Enter Spotwave Wireless, a five-year-old Ottawa-based firm -- established within the ranks of the telecommunications community -- that is looking to bring its line of indoor wireless coverage solutions to the masses.

The company's SpotCell indoor coverage solutions support CDMA (1X, EVDO) and GSM (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS) networks and have been deployed in a variety 3G carrier roll-outs across North America via the likes of Telus, Rogers, Bell Mobility, Verizon, and others. Essentially, the company's adaptive coverage solutions are designed to enhance indoor coverage so cell phones, wireless devices, and applications work properly and without disruption.

According to Paul Tinney, vice president of Spotwave, in terms of building new partnerships and a new clientele, the company is in the throes of preparing to launch its first-ever channel partner program with a focus outside its traditional telco circles.

"Our prime objective is not just to amplify the wireless signals indoors but keep the sanctity of the wireless spectrum intact; clean-up the signal, adjust the gain, and protect the carrier's network," Tinney explained. "There are a number of second tier VARs and resellers that are focused on vertical markets in the IT world . . . so we're in the process of designing and implementing a channel program here which we're aiming to get off of the ground next month."

Spotwave has been successful in manufacturing and health care industries in particular, Tinney noted. Given its SpotCell products "grab the wireless signal and bring it indoors", he said the biggest challenge facing Spotwave was distribution.

"We need for people to be able to find us . . . in the indoor wireless community we're well known," he said. "There's a broadband assumption that because a device is mobile that its wireless coverage is ubiquitous and that's not necessarily the case."

Spotwave officials added its customer surveys indicated that most North American subscribers experience impaired coverage at home or at work.

Based on its own Web survey related to the incidence of indoor coverage problems at home and at work, Spotwave said almost 10 per cent of respondents indicated that their mobile devices do not work at all indoors at home while 35 per cent assert that it doesn't work in various spots at home.

At work, six per cent claim their wireless devices do not function at all at work, while 55 per cent state that there are dead zones at work where they cannot use their devices.