Wifi Revolution

WiMAX chipset maker Beceem Communications - which is reportedly preparing for its first mobile WiMAX deployments later this year - has received more than $40 million in venture capital from existing investor Teachers’ Private Capital as well as new investor NEC (News - Alert) Corporation.

The California upstart, which is solely focused on 802.16e mobile WiMAX, reported in a press release today that it plans to use the funding for new product initiatives as well as strengthening its development capabilities for next-generation mobile broadband solutions. The funding will also be used to fortify “critical resources” in support of its growing number of customers.

Other new and existing investors in the Series D-round included Global Catalyst Partners, Intel (News - Alert) Capital, Khosla Ventures, KTB Ventures, Mitsui & Co. Technology Investment Group, DoCoMo Capital, Samsung Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Walden International. The company has reportedly raised more than $90 million in VC funding since its inception in 2003.

Beceem’s 802.16e IEEE mobile WiMAX chipsets are designed for terminal and infrastructure equipment. The three-year-old company boasts “the most advanced [802.16e Mobile WiMAX] chipsets available in the market today.” It is a company which is striving to improve the performance characteristics of the 802.16e IEEE (News - Alert) standard by overcoming obstacles such as propagation loss over distance, delay spread (frequency selective fading),Doppler spread (time selective fading), angle spread (space selective fading) and interference (user in same/other sectors).

The company works with both terminal and base station OEMs on early integration and interoperability testing, thus enabling them to accelerate the delivery of their products and become the first to support operator trials and commercial deployments of mobile WiMAX networks.

Beceem claims its wireless technologies are “surpassing previous spectral efficiency thresholds while providing excellent resistance to fading, multi-path and Doppler-shift required for use in mobile broadband applications.” All of its chipsets combine an integrated PHY-MAC solution, thus they deliver functionality which ensures the highest performance.

“The mobile WiMAX market is a space with significant investment opportunities,” said Mary Dotz, CFO of Beceem, in the press release. “We are proud that some of the most sophisticated investors in the industry have recognized our market position and growth potential, as evidenced by their investment in Beceem. The funding is critical for us to continue the growth of our organization as we scale for success at a time of exponential growth in the Mobile WiMAX market.”

For more information about Beceem Communications, visit www.beceem.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.

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