Sub10 portfolio of 60 and 80 GHz Liberator V band and E band millimetre wave point-to-point links available from Amtele

Sub10 Systems, the developer of millimetre wave point-to-point radio equipment, has partnered with Amtele AB, who will be distributing the Liberator family of point-to-point wireless Ethernet bridges in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Operating in 60 GHz and 80 GHz spectrum bands, the Liberator links provide high capacity short haul links for a variety of applications. Typical uses include macro cell backhaul, provision of building to building connectivity, video surveillance infrastructure and Internet Service Provision.

Tomas Bergmann, Channel Director at Sub10 Systems, comments: “Millimetre wave frequency bands are opening up throughout Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and beyond. Spectrum licences, if required at all, are quickly and cheaply available, enabling our customers to rapidly establish cost-effective, flexible point-to-point links offering up to 1 Gbit/s of capacity. We are very pleased to be working with Amtele to address this fast-growing market, combining the product quality and superior customer service that is key to the success of both our companies.”

Amtele has been established in the market for more than 50 years, representing a wide portfolio of products including calibration, test systems and military systems, as well as RF and microwave equipment. The company is ISO 9001 certified and focuses on providing excellent customer service alongside its quality product portfolio.

Stefan Bengtsson, Managing Director at Amtele comments: “The Sub10 radios fit seamlessly into our existing offerings and customer base, and we are very excited about the applications and market opportunities, helping our customers quickly and cost-effectively solve their connectivity and communications challenges.”

Effective immediately, Sub10 products will be available from Amtele, with more information available at http://www.amtele.se/en/content/p2p-radio on the company’s web site

Sub10 Systems UK partner Horsebridge Networks has launched a new division focused on communications and networking product distribution. The new organisation, Comms Networks, based in Cheltenham, is now representing Sub10, focusing on fast delivery and excellent customer service.

Comms Networks prides itself on offering only ‘best of breed’ products and ensuring a user friendly service, backed up by award-winning marketing, sales and customer support, as well as training and technical services. The company offers the full portfolio of Sub10 Liberator point-to-point wireless links to customers throughout the UK.

You can find more information on the Comms Networks web site.

A Newton Abbot company has pioneered new telecoms technology that has positioned it to tap into a global market worth £1 billion.

Sub10 Systems is ready to roll out a new way of conveying masses of information via the mobile phone network after successfully trialling its system in partnership with Virgin Media Business.

The month long ‘backhaul small cell’ trials were the culmination of around two years work between the two businesses, using Sub10’s technology to provide a stable platform for mobile networks in densely populated areas.

With smart phone users requiring increasing amounts of bandwidth as they surf the net and access data-rich downloads, big rooftop phone masts are no longer up to the job.

A new generation of mobile base stations are smaller and rule out the need for unsightly masts.

They are deployed at street level on things like lamp posts and bus stops, relaying information wirelessly to discreet rooftop base stations linked to the internet by the fibre optic network. It’s Sub10’s technology that helps make that connection.

The aim of its data transfer trials with Virgin was to test its millimetre wave technology which is capable of conveying masses of information in busy, built up and noisy environments, that might otherwise distort signals. Sub10 uses unlicensed radio frequencies, which have less traffic and more bandwidth capacity.

Sub10’s technology, the Liberator–V320, provides consumers in built-up and densely populated areas with a faster and more reliable internet connection, compared with traditional networks.

Sub10 Systems chief executive Stuart Broome said: “The results of this trial have established millimetre wave technology as a dependable and efficient way of communicating between a base station and its core network.”

The success of the trials means that the technology is now ready to be deployed, with Vodafone also among the list of international customers that Sub10 will be rolling it out to. The technology is also being exhibited at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.

Chief sales and marketing officer Frank Pauer, who is one of the firm’s four-strong board of directors, said: “The next step is the commercial roll out. Every major operator globally has the same capacity problem.”

The global market for the ‘wireless backhaul’ systems connecting the mobile network to the internet is expected to be valued at £1 billion in the next three years. Sub10, which was established by directors Stuart Broome, Marks Stevens and Grant Grafton in 2010, is already a major international player in this market.

The company, which currently employs 30 Devon-based development engineers and 50 staff in total, has doubled in size every six months since its launch.

“This is just the start,” said Mr Pauer, “and this rate of growth will continue through 2014, with a further boost in 2015.”

Last year, the company was on track to achieve a £10 million turnover and announced plans to invest more than £1m in advanced product development over the next two years to enable the next stage of its global expansion.

It secured a £236,000 investment from the European Regional Development Fund to help create 22 new hi-tech jobs.

Sub10 Systems, a specialist in the development of millimetre wave wireless links, and Virgin Media Business, one of the UK’s largest telecoms operators, have completed a live backhaul small cell trial to showcase the consistency and speed of millimetre wave technology, ahead of Mobile World Congress next week. Sub10’s Liberator-V320, a wireless Ethernet link which operates in the 60 GHz frequency and guarantees rates of 320 mbps, was integral in the trial.

The trial with Virgin Media’s Innovation Trial’s Team, which took place in Leeds, UK, aimed to provide a reliable high speed connection using wireless backhaul in the 60 GHz band. Three links were installed on three lamp posts in tough-to-reach areas at street level, over a distance of 200 metres. The effects of weather, multipath and passing vehicles were monitored by a weather station and cameras during the trial.

Bruce Girdlestone, senior business development manager at Virgin Media Business, said: “To test the full potential of the 60 gigahertz frequency, we deliberately set up the trial in an environment that was highly populated and had a high density of infrastructure, adding important variables to our test. We used Sub10’s Liberator V-320 because of its bandwidth capabilities, its compact size and its flexibility, which makes it suitable for backhaul communications.”

All three links remained stable over the course of the one-month trial. The narrow beam width between each link reduced interference and interception risks. Rain fade had little effect on the links and very minimal effect upon the RSSI (received signal strength indication). A severe storm during the trial did not have any effect upon the strength of the signal and physical obstructions such as a double-decker bus did not create multipathing.

Stuart Broome, CEO at Sub10 Systems, said: “The Liberator–V320 is an extremely versatile, cost-effective P2P wireless Ethernet link, and is also licence exempt. Its advantages make it available to both large and small network operators for a number of uses including backhaul communications, LAN extension and as a fibre alternative. The results of this trial have established millimetre wave technology as a dependable and efficient way of communicating between a base station and its core network.”

Sub10 Systems, a specialist in the development of millimetre wave wireless links, has signed a distribution agreement with Madrid-based Diode Spain, which will make Sub10’s entire pioneering wireless broadband portfolio available for deployment throughout the country.

Sub10 Systems has already successfully trialled its technology with major players such as Vodafone and Virgin and this latest expansion of its international market comes on the eve of the company’s major presence in Barcelona, where it will be exhibiting its range at the industry’s showcase Mobile World Congress.

Diode has nearly 40 years’ experience in telecommunications and also operates in Portugal and Italy.

“The huge growth in mobile broadband traffic is being driven by users looking to access and share content wherever they are. In major Spanish cities like Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia, for example, operators are battling desperately to improve capacity by optimising their networks and trying to keep their costs under control at the same time,” said David Tajuelo, Business Development Manager at Diode.

“Sub10’s technology is extremely versatile and cost-effective and is absolutely ideal for wireless urban backhaul. We are very excited by the addition of the Sub10 Systems solution to our portfolio and we are very confident that Spain’s broadband-hungry population will soon be seeing the benefits of its deployment across the country.”

Sub10 Systems designs, develops and manufactures millimetre wave (mmW) systems in the 60GHz, 70GHz and 80GHz areas of spectrum. The small form factor of its links make them highly competitive for providing backhaul for small street-level mobile phone base-stations and to link Local Area Networks (LAN), reliably, cost effectively and quickly, at data rates up to 1,000Mbps and at ranges in excess of 5km.

“We’re delighted to be working with Diode in Spain. It’s an exciting opportunity for us. The 60GHz, 70GHz and 80GHz bands are ideal for meeting the needs of today’s market for high-speed Internet, data and voice communications without loss of quality, and also lowering the total cost of ownership,” said Sub10 Systems Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Frank Pauer.

“Some of the world’s truly leading Mobile Network Operators are already knocking at our door and really anyone looking to solve the issue of rising urban broadband traffic levels should make sure they come and visit us in Barcelona next week.”

Bristol, 07 November 2013 – BGF, the independent company established to provide growth capital to the UK’s growing businesses, today announced its £2.45m investment in Sub10 Systems (Sub10), a specialist designer, developer and vendor of class-leading millimeter wave (“MMW”) wireless solutions for mobile telecoms.

This is the seventh investment to be led by BGF’s regional team for the South West of England and South Wales and Sub10 is the first business to be backed by BGF in Devon. The investment was managed for BGF by Ned Dorbin, Alex Garfitt and Edwin Davies. Sub10 was introduced to BGF by law firm Foot Anstey in Plymouth. Several other advisers from the South West were also involved in the transaction.

The business has grown rapidly since its formation in 2010 and is forecast to deliver FY14 revenues of c.£10m. The company’s head office is in Newton Abbott, Devon, and it currently employs 37 people.

Sub10’s products are high speed wireless devices for data transfer across mobile networks where historically data transfer has been slow and unreliable. The company’s customers are primarily telecommunications companies and network operators. Due to the growth in mobile data traffic, many operators are using wireless to save on radio spectrum usage and thereby increase efficiency. This can be achieved by using products such as Sub10’s wireless links where plenty of data spectrum is available for relatively short, high speed, point-to-point data connections. This is ideal for densely packed communications networks such as urban areas and Sub10’s products will help to improve the performance of mobile networks.

Sub10’s aim is to develop the smallest, best in class MMW wireless solutions which are cost effective and installer friendly. The company exports 90% of its products and currently the majority of its sales are to operators in Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey with the remainder to the UK and Ireland.

The investment of growth capital from BGF will support Sub10 as it invests in R&D, recruits additional staff, increases sales and marketing spend, and will provide additional working capital so that Sub10 can meet larger future orders.

BGF has also introduced Richard Atkins via its Talent Network to the business as Non-Executive Chairman. Atkins has broad IT and telecoms experience having spent his executive career with IBM Global Services as well as significant chairman and Private Equity experience.

Sub10 is well-placed to grow rapidly in an expanding market. Driven by 4G network rollouts, mobile operators are expected to increasingly invest in metro and small cell networks to cope with this increase in data usage. Global data traffic grew 70% in 2012 and is expected to continue increasing at an exponential rate. The potential addressable market size is estimated to be more than £1bn by 2018.

Stuart Broome, founder and CEO of Sub10, commented:

“Many of the team here at Sub10 gave up secure jobs with the likes of Motorola to start a business that we were passionate about and one that we felt had significant potential for growth. There was a real gap in the market for Sub10’s products and our decision is certainly paying off; there is now considerable expansion within the industry and our Ethernet bridges are gaining increasing traction with the large telecommunications firms and integrators worldwide.

“This offers Sub10 real growth potential. BGF’s investment will allow us to further develop our range of wireless products in line with customers’ demands whilst also funding an increase in our sales and marketing efforts to target larger customers and orders.

“We looked at a number of financing options and then were introduced to BGF by Foot Anstey. Having spent time with the BGF team we feel confident that they are the right fit for us and look forward to an extremely bright future together.”

Ned Dorbin, Senior Investment Manager, commented:

“Sub10 is a relatively young company and it is growing rapidly as a result of the work of an extremely experienced management team and their ability to carve out a niche in the expanding MMW wireless solutions market.

“BGF’s long-term equity finance is well-suited to technology companies’ investment plans, especially where the company is growing like Sub10 and where the business case often works best over extended time periods. We are delighted to be investing and are also very pleased to be backing such an ambitious team and an innovative South West business. We hope this is the first of many such companies from this region that BGF invests in.”