Swiss telco is main investor in Firecomms

SWISS STATE telecoms provider, Swisscom, has emerged as the main backer of a $5 million investment in Irish firm Firecomms which was announced in Japan yesterday.

One of the other investors is Japanese automotive electronics maker Alps Electric which has had a relationship with Firecomms for a number of years. London-based investment bank GP Bullhound and Firecomms’ existing investors Atlantic Bridge, ACT Venture Finance, and Enterprise Ireland, also contributed to the round.

Firecomms produces silicon components that allow fibre-optic signals to be sent over low-cost flexible plastic cables.

The technology is based on research spun out of the Tyndall Institute in Cork.

As part of the investment Swisscom will use Firecomms’ technology to roll out a high-definition interactive television service in its home market. Speaking from Japan yesterday, Firecomms’ chief executive Declan O’Mahoney said Swisscom is already selling a product based on Firecomms’ technology that allows customers self-install the service in the same way that telcos such as Eircom currently do with home broadband packages.

This is a potentially huge market as all of the large telcos in Europe are deploying so-called IPTV services so that they can compete with cable companies to offer a triple play service combining telephone, video and internet services.

“Swisscom are one of the first to get serious about high-definition IPTV and this tells the rest of the world Firecomms’ technology is important to them,” said Mr O’Mahoney. “This really validates our story.”

Mr O’Mahoney said the funding would enable the Cork-based firm to develop a next generation of integrated products that would support even higher speeds. Currently, the technology supports transmission at 100Mbits/sec.

Mr O’Mahoney said having major customers as investors was a distinct advantage.

“It’s easier to develop a product roadmap when the customers are sitting at the table telling you what they need rather than engineers,” he told The Irish Times.

Alps Electric is interested in Firecomms’ Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) technology as it is also used to create networks in cars.