Wifi 6 is the first major architectural change to wireless LAN since its inception. In August 2016, CableLabs and Edgewater Wireless (TSXV: YFI) announced that Edgewater was chosen to be in their UpRamp Fiterator Program. This three month, semi-resident accelerator for late-stage startups, was designed to help CableLabs establish products and market fit for the $500 Billion Cable Industry.
Edgewater Wireless was judged and selected by senior industry leaders – including CEO’s and CTOs of some of the largest cable operators in the world. This is a big deal for Edgewater Wireless, industry leaders saw the potential in what Edgewater was doing with their next generation, multi-channel WiFi technology for high-density & high-interference environments and welcomed them in.
UpRamp was formed to help startups create a relationship between the cable and broadband industry; supporting innovation and entrepreneurship globally. CableLabs saw the triangular relationship between start ups, industry, and venture capital didn’t always work. When part of the triangle is broken, the innovation cycle gets broken or impeded.
UpRamps solution is to build an ecosystem to connect entrepreneurs with the connectivity industry through programs for every stage of the entrepreneur life cycle. The UpRamp Fiterator Program allows Edgewater Wireless to leverage and showcase their technology for opportunities in the cable industry:
- CableLabs Summer 2016 Conference
- CableLabs Winter 2017 Conference
- 3-Month Fiterator program with UpRamp™ covering all program and associated costs
- Access to C-level mentor ship from CableLabs members and industry-recognized members
- Access to state of the art, Kyrio labs for testing and compliance
- Introduction to CableLabs members’ associated venture capital firms
- Access to CableLabs extensive patent portfolio as well as a 1-year membership in Unified patents
- Most Importantly – expediting the introduction to CableLabs members and shortened development lifecycle of products specifically for the $500 Billion cable industry
When you consider that Edgewater Wireless technology has already made history by being involved in some of the most advanced WiFi development currently being attempted on the globe, including Dual-Channel WiFi™, Broadcast WiFi, and seamless 5G Handoff Authentication (UnAuth). WiFi Spectrum Slicing is already being embraced by the leaders in WiFi application development, you can see that CableLabs made a good choice collaborating with them.
Many thought the UpRamp program would be an instant launch into the big leagues but that isn’t how it works. Adoption of the WiFi 6 standard was rejected two times before the third standard was passed in Sept 2018. These Standards are what shape the technologies, services and applications going forward. Any delays in setting standards slow the development and roll out of new products and applications. Many enterprises are aware that the new 802.11ax standards will be revolutionary and have held off on major upgrades to their infrastructure. This caused an industry wide drop in spending. Combined with 5G these new standards will spur a drastic overhaul of existing wireless infrastructure. Edgewater is ready to take full advantage.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Edgewater Wireless is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. The author has been compensated to cover Edgewater Wireless on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.
