SEQUANS COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM FRENCH INNOVATION AGENCY
Paris, France – September 29, 2004 — SEQUANS Communications, a fabless semi-conductor company in the 802.16/WIMAX space, has just been awarded 500,000 euros worth of aid by the French Agency for Innovation (ANVAR). Sequans designs and develops silicon and software for WiMAX, enabling service providers to deploy new radio network architectures with significant cost reductions.
“We are especially proud to have obtained ANVAR’s support. This demonstrates the innovative nature of our project and the strength of our team,” said Georges Karam, President & CEO of SEQUANS Communications. “We believe in the tremendous growth potential of WiMAX. According to ABI Research, over 8 million WiMAX links will be rolled out in 2008. The support from ANVAR gives us the extra means to become one of the leading players in this market.”
WiMAX is a broadband wireless access technology, with a typical range of 7-10 km and transfer rates of up to 75 Mbit per second in a 20 MHz channel. This technology, based on the IEEE 802.16 standard and promoted by the WiMAX Forum™ (www.wimaxforum.org), stands out for its technical performance and attractive deployment costs. Among the 150 members of the WiMAX Forum, a non-profit corporation, are semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel and Fujitsu, major system vendors such as Alcatel, Siemens, and Cisco, and telcos such as France Telecom and British Telecom. Its purpose is to ensure interoperability between different types of equipment through a certification program. This in turn enables WiMAX equipment to be offered at competitive prices, thus making WiMAX an alternative broadband access technology to cable and DSL.
The ANVAR grant comes on top of a first round of fund raising by Sequans in June. It will be entirely dedicated to Research & Development activities. In addition, Sequans is busy completing a second round of fund raising with American and European investors. This will enable to pursue their technical developments, as well as enable international expansion, especially in the USA and Asia.
About ANVAR
ANVAR (Agence Nationale pour la Valorisation de la Recherche) is a French governmental organization, with industrial and business activities, that reports to the Ministry of Research and the Ministry of Economy & Finance. ANVAR provides advice and financing to companies, laboratories, and designers to help them develop valuable emerging projects.
About Sequans
SEQUANS Communications is a fabless semiconductor company created by a team of seasoned experts to become the leading supplier of silicon and software for Broadband Wireless Access. By providing integrated PHY and MAC solutions that seamlessly fit into system vendors' designs, SEQUANS greatly lowers cost of ownership of base stations and subscriber stations. SEQUANS delivers a standards-based solution, compliant with the requirements of the WiMAX Forum(TM). It also incorporates additional features for increased coverage and mobility, thus lowering deployment costs and enabling fixed, nomadic/portable and mobile applications. For more information about SEQUANS Communications, please visit www.sequans.com.
