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Technology Partnerships Canada Supports SONAbeam™ Development
Vancouver, Canada - 12 April 2002 - Technology Partnerships Canada today
announced a $10-million investment in fSONA Communications, manufacturer
of the SONAbeam™ family of Free Space Optical (FSO) wireless communications
systems.
fSONA is an innovative provider of next-generation, FSO solutions that
utilize a flexible point-to-point architecture and protocol-transparent
design. Founded in 1997 with a goal to develop best-of-breed, cost-effective,
eye-safe, optical transmission products for the broadband access market,
fSONA created the most powerful FSO system ever brought to market - the
SONAbeam™.
"We're very pleased by this recognition from the Canadian government" said
fSONA's President & CEO, Theresa Carbonneau "Canada has a history of excellence
in communications and our international team of laser communications professionals
are proud to carry on that tradition."
The Technology Partnerships Canada investment will allow fSONA to further
develop leading Free Space Optical solutions which, because of their license-free
status, are marketed worldwide. Such technology developments will ensure
that Canada maintains its leadership in the FSO high-speed wireless market.
The market for FSO has been estimated to grow from $75 million (US) in
2001 to $2 billion in 2003 and as high as $5 billion in 2005. (Strategis
Group Report, October 2000; Allied Business Intelligence Report, 2001)
About Technology Partnerships Canada
Technology Partnerships Canada, a key element in the federal government's
innovation strategy, leverages private sector investments in research, development
and innovation in critical, leading-edge technologies. Technology Partnerships
Canada's risk-sharing investments are repayable - usually in the form of
royalties based on company sales.
About fSONA
fSONA Systems is recognized as the preferred provider of optical wireless solutions for government, enterprise and service provider markets around the globe. Leveraging leading edge advancements in 1550nm optical transmission, the SONAbeam™ family of systems, based on free-space-optics (FSO), use a globally unlicensed, wireless technology to provide speeds up to 2.5 Gbps over distances up to 7km. For more information visit www.fsona.com
or www.free-space-optics.org
Further Information
For more information about fSONA, SONAbeam or Free-Space Optical Wireless, please contact:
604-273-6333
media@fsona.com
fSONA and SONAbeam® are trademarks of fSONA Networks. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies.
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