According to Global Web Index, the typical digital consumer now owns 3.64 connected devices – from phones and tablets to streaming sticks, wearables and gaming consoles. The growth of connected devices is also driving demand for data, and the technology of choice for most consumers is Wi-Fi. Along with this growth, Wi-Fi traffic from mobile devices and Wi-Fi-only devices will account for 49% of total data traffic by 2020, a 42% increase from 2015 (Cisco). Globally, the WiFi market is projected to reach $33.6 billion by 2020 with 20 billion WiFi chipsets forecasted to ship between 2016-2021. Current WiFi chipsets from the likes of Qualcomm, Broadcom and Quantanna are based on a single channel radio architecture.
Company
With over $60 million invested in the company‘s core technology, WiFi3TM, Edgewater Wireless was spun-off in 2012 by Edgewater Computer Systems. The company is structured into three business
units: 1) High-Density WiFi solutions which are powered by WiFi3 and marketed under the newly launched aera, io brand 2) OEM & Licensing of WiFi3 Technology and 3) Intellectual Property / Patent
Monetization. In 2015, the company completed a patent deal with Apple and in 2016 was brought into a CableLabs backed accelerator where the technology and market opportunity were further validated.
Products
Backed by 20+ patents, Edgewater‘s WiFi3 TM technology is revolutionizing the WiFi industry by solving the three main issues that impact legacy WiFi performance — interference, capacity and
density. In high-density or high-interference applications, legacy WiFi, based on a single-channel radio architecture, performs like a single lane road in heavy traffic. Edgewater‘s innovative and patented multi-lane approach, WiFi3 TM , has been designed to allow network vendors and operators to deal with the exponential increase in connected devices and data demand in venues, public areas, large enterprises and the home. WiFI3 TM delivers 20-40x greater performance vs. traditional Wi-Fi in high density applications and lowers network infrastructure costs by 30—50%.
Plan Moving Forward
Edgewater Wireless plans to continue the adoption of WiFi3TM. The company is also soon to launch in conjunction with a Top 5, Fortune 500 Retailer what is believed to be the world‘s largest Wi-Fi + IOT deployment in the world. It also plans on commercializing engagements with six MSOs and expanding its distributor and reseller network in key strategic markets.
All figures in US dollars, unless otherwise stated.