Announcing the 2005
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Today, I am pleased to announce
the second annual Fierce 15, our list of the top emerging
companies in the VoIP industry for 2005. Much has changed in
VoIP over the past year. There are dozens of new VoIP service
providers and hardware and software vendors. We've also seen
shifting attitudes on VoIP regulation and taxation, as well as
the arrival of a new FCC chairman. In fact, the industry's
entire landscape is vastly different from 2004. Once populated
almost exclusively by startups, the VoIP market has now been
joined by giant telcos and MSOs, as well as nearly all major
telecom infrastructure vendors. On the software side, giants
such as Microsoft and Google are showing a keen interest in
VoIP.
Yet small, fierce companies still have a big role to play
in shaping VoIP's future. These businesses are the prime
innovators and trendsetters--the ones to watch. It's the
fierce firms that will evolve VoIP from its current status as
a low-cost alternative to PSTN telephony into a pervasive
communications medium with functions and features integrated
into virtually all aspects of daily life.
Wireless VoIP (wVoIP) is one such technology. Several of
the companies on this year's Fierce 15 are laying the
groundwork for future wVoIP systems. These services will first
augment, then eventually replace conventional cellular
telephony, leading to new opportunities for providers,
equipment manufacturers, software developers, content
suppliers and others. VoIP is also paving the way to new
horizons in IP conferencing, presence, document sharing, rich
collaboration and a variety of other communications
technologies. As Michael Stanford, Intel's director of VoIP
strategy, recently observed, "VoIP is a beachhead, so to
speak, of services over IP."
VoIP has come a long way in just a few years, defying the
expectations of even the savviest telecom industry analysts.
While no one can tell just how fast the industry will evolve
over the next several years, it's safe to say that this year's
Fierce 15 winners will play a major role in the shaping the
industry's future.
- John
Edwards | |
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Atreus Systems Based:
Ottawa, ON, Canada Founded: 1999 http://www.atreus-systems.com/
Why It's Fierce: Atreus offers innovation,
flexibility and scalability with a first-of-its-kind software
collection that helps service providers scale their VoIP
business by streamlining service delivery--including service
design, development and commercial deployment. Atreus' VoIP
provisioning solution delivers pre-packaged, multi-service,
multi-vendor support for industry-leading VoIP vendors,
including, BroadSoft, Cisco, IP Unity, Sonus, Sylantro and
VocalData. As VoIP becomes increasingly commoditized, Atreus
believes that providers will need to retain customers and
become more competitive by bundling complementary IP services
with VoIP.
What To Look For: Atreus will help providers meet
their rapid growth plans with its service provisioning library
that bundles everything from VoIP and messaging to IPTV and
desktop applications.
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Azulstar Networks Based:
Grand Haven, MI Founded: 2002 http://www.azulstar.com/
Why It's Fierce: Azulstar has established itself as
a strong leader in metro WiFi/WiMax networks and services,
with a heavy focus on VoIP. The company built the US' first
citywide WiFi network during 2003 across the city of Grand
Haven, Michigan. The public/private partnership currently
operates with thousands of customers and has grown to
encompass surrounding cities. Earlier this year, the company
made waves by launching the world's first metro-wide Voice
over WiFi telephone service in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
What To Look For: Azulstar says it's preparing to
deploy the latest WiMax technology in its ongoing effort to
cover more metro areas with WiFi and wVoIP service.
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Boingo Wireless Based:
Santa Monica, CA Founded: 2001 http://www.boingo.com/
Why It's Fierce: Through its WiFi technology and
alliances with VoIP providers, Boingo Wireless is fiercely
making wVoIP an everyday reality. The company recently
partnered with VoIP leaders Skype and Vonage to enable wVoIP
service from thousands of hotspots. The company is currently
developing a version of its end-user WiFi connection software
for use on cell phones and other wireless devices. The
software provides signal sniffing, network profile management,
802.1x log-in authentication, WiFi Protected Access (WPA) and
virtual private network (VPN) data encryption.
What To Look For: More hotspots and additional VoIP
provider alliances.
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BorderWare
Technologies Based: Mississauga, ON,
Canada Founded: 1994 http://www.borderware.com/
Why It's Fierce: BorderWare has taken a leadership
role in securing VoIP at the application layer. While the
industry has been discussing potential VoIP security risks,
including SPIT, identity theft, fraud, DoS attacks, voicemail
bombing and phishing, BorderWare developed a product to
address these security challenges. In fact, BorderWare
launched the first SIP-based security product, SIPassure, to
secure and manage dynamic, real-time SIP communications.
SIPassure allows enterprises to deploy real-time messaging,
voice, data, video and other SIP based applications securely
and with confidence.
What To Look For: More innovative VoIP security
solutions.
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Clearwire Based:
Kirkland, WA Founded: 1998 http://www.clearwire.com/
Why It's Fierce: Founded by cellular pioneer Craig
McCaw, Clearwire offers wireless broadband access for
subscribers in California, Florida, Texas and several other
markets. Clearwire focuses on its system's plug-and-play
aspect, claiming that subscribers are able to install the
service in minutes without the help of a technician or
installer. An alliance with Bell Canada proves that the
company has its eye on VoIP service. Clearwire has received
investment from Intel and Bell Canada.
What To Look For: More service area rollouts, along
with the possibility of offering Bell Canada VoIP service
within the US.
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CopperCom Based: Boca
Raton, FL Founded: 1982 http://www.coppercom.com/
Why It's Fierce: CopperCom provides a comprehensive
softswitch solution for carriers making the complex transition
from legacy to next-generation services and those deploying
leading-edge IP networks from the ground up. CopperCom's Class
4/Class 5 softswitch platform, the Converged Switching
eXchange, is architected specifically to support both legacy
and next-generation IP-based services. CopperCom has one of
the largest installed bases of IOC and CLEC customers in the
next-generation softswitch industry. The company's growing
customer base in the service provider market includes a number
of significant wins, such as the recently announced,
multi-year deployment at Iowa Telecom (with over 260,000
lines).
What To Look For: More business from carriers
transitioning into VoIP technology.
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Empirix Based: Bedford,
MA Founded: 2000 http://www.empirix.com/
Why It's Fierce: Empirix's Hammer test systems are
ubiquitous in network equipment manufacturers' and carriers'
labs. The technology plays a significant role in ensuring that
VoIP devices and services deliver solid performance before
they are marketed to enterprises and consumers. Empirix also
provides VoIP infrastructure monitoring solutions that have
been adopted by providers such as Cox Communications and
PowerNet Global. Most recently, Empirix began marketing its
Hammer-based test systems to enterprises deploying VoIP,
helping to ensure that VoIP applications and networks are
properly integrated and perform well in an enterprise's own
environment.
What To Look For: Expect Empirix to make even more
sales to carriers and enterprises as VoIP continues to
transform the telecom landscape.
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M5 Networks Based: New
York Founded: 2000 http://www.m5net.com/
Why It's Fierce: The Fierce 15 usually doesn't
include companies that are limited to a single geographical
market, but we've made an exception in the case of M5
Networks. That's because this firm does its job so well that
it serves as a role model for similar businesses in other
locations. M5 focuses on being the best at one service:
providing a hosted VoIP phone system to the New York Metro
Area's SMB market. Business owners, CTOs and CFOs turn to M5
to avoid buying or maintaining a phone system and the phone
lines connected to it. M5, which serves over 350 clients and
8,000 end-users, has increased its client base by more than 50
percent in just under the last 12 months. As of December 2004,
M5 had captured 85 percent of the New York-metro market for
hosted VoIP and 10 percent of the estimated $60 million US
market.
What To Look For: Expansion into other markets or,
perhaps, a takeover by another VoIP hoster.
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Meru Networks Based:
Sunnyvale, CA Founded: 2002 http://www.merunetworks.com/
Why It's Fierce: With its rollout of voice-optimized
WLAN technologies, Meru Networks is positioning itself to
become a wVoIP leader. The company's WLAN System offers the
reliability, scalability and security necessary to deliver
converged voice and data services over a single WLAN
infrastructure. The technology offers businesses, universities
and healthcare organizations the predictable bandwidth and
over-the-air QoS required to support current and future
wireless applications.
What To Look For: With new, WLAN-enabled devices
(handsets, dual-mode phones, PDAs) arriving on the market at
competitive prices, Meru is well positioned to ensure that
enterprise and service provider WLAN infrastructures are ready
to support these services in a scaled fashion.
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Popular Telephony Based:
New York; Sophia Antipolis, France Founded: 2004 http://www.populartelephony.com/
Why It's Fierce: Popular Telephony stands out as
fierce because it is the first company to deliver a
server-less peer-to-peer communications technology. The
company's Peerio product has the potential to revolutionize
the telephony industry, moving the business from a
"centralized" architecture to a "distributed" architecture.
Peerio's middleware, residing at the core of the endpoint (a
PC or telephony device), enables all telephony features and
functionality to be shifted to the network's edge. This is
made possible by the use of Peerio-intelligent endpoints --
plug-and-play devices that connect with each other using
server-less technology in a fully protocol-agnostic
manner.
What To Look For: Getting telecom manufacturers to
embed Peerio technology into their products to make them P2P
and VoIP-enabled.
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SPIRIT DSP Based:
Moscow Founded: 1992 http://www.spiritdsp.com/
Why It's Fierce: SPIRIT bills itself as "the Bell
Labs of Russia." That description may be a bit over the top,
but isn't entirely inaccurate. After all, SPIRIT's Moscow
office is a fusion of Russian R&D talent, including 80
engineers and 15 Ph.Ds. This knowledge pool, combined with
international business experience, allows the company to
deliver high quality software products for telephony, VoIP,
hands-free conferencing, speech processing, audio, and other
applications in the field of digital signal processing. SPIRIT
is the biggest eXpressDSP software house in Europe. The firm
delivers embedded voice and communication products and
consulting services to the world's leading telecommunication
equipment and semiconductor suppliers, as well as
collaboration software vendors. SPIRIT's clients include
Agere, Atmel, Ericsson, Furuno, Hyundai, Kyocera, LG, NEC,
Nortel Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, Texas
Instruments, and Toshiba. Seven of the world's top
semiconductor vendors have installed SPIRIT software directly
into their silicon products.
What To Look For: Expect SPIRIT's business to keep
snowballing. The company's current development projects
include adding voice technology to an Oracle enterprise
collaboration suite, Macromedia's Breeze software and an
Ericsson public safety call center product.
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Sylantro Systems Based:
Campbell, CA Founded: 1998 http://www.sylantro.com/
Why It's Fierce: Sylantro is the leading supplier of
VoIP application feature servers, which are used by tier one,
two and three service providers to deliver advanced business
and consumer VoIP as well as integrated communications
services. The company supports a hosted model that allows
service providers to deliver unique, "sticky" services that
provide more compelling value than premise-based PBX equipment
or POTS replacement services. The company aims to help service
providers execute on two key strategies: progressive migration
from PSTN to VoIP and to dramatically increase services
revenue from broadband.
What To Look For: As VoIP providers move beyond the
PSTN stage, Sylantro is positioned to offer them the
technology to create integrated communications services.
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TowerStream Based:
Middletown, RI Founded: 2000 http://www.towerstream.com/
Why It's Fierce: Using WiMax technology and antennas
perched on skyscrapers, TowerStream provides wireless
broadband network services to subscribers in New York City,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. By
partnering with Vonage, TowerStream showed that it's thinking
fiercely about wVoIP. TowerStream is also striking a blow for
SMBs by providing an access alternative beyond the services
provided by telcos and cable companies.
What To Look For: TowerStream is developing a beta
trial of mobile VoIP over WiFi for consumers in New York
City.
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Veraz Networks Based: San
Jose, CA Founded: 1996 http://www.veraznetworks.com/
Why It's Fierce: When it comes to VoIP
infrastructure providers, it's hard to find any vendor,
regardless of size, with a product line as comprehensive the
one offered by Veraz. Veraz Networks has made its mark as a
major provider of softswitch-based communications services and
toll-quality packet telephony solutions for carriers. In fact,
over 700 carriers in 140 countries use the company's
technology. Veraz's extensive product line includes the
ControlSwitch softswitch and service delivery platform, the
I-Gate 4000 family of media gateways and third-party
application servers and media servers. The flexibility of
Veraz's softswitches and media gateways allow users to
interconnect any application to any device, both legacy and
IP-based and ranging in size from 10,000 to millions of
subscribers.
What To Look For: Veraz recently updated its
ControlSwitch with additional elements for management of
subscribers, services and device mobility.
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Zultys
Technologies Based: Sunnyvale, CA Founded:
2001 http://www.zultys.com/
Why It's Fierce: Zultys views the telephone as a
device that can be shaped and molded into whatever users need.
Yet the company has also gained widespread recognition for
rolling out highly integrated products that are easy to
provision, administer and use. Zultys' aim is to remove the
complexity of VoIP deployment, allowing businesses to focus on
their core competence instead of spending weeks configuring
voice applications on their data network. The company's
solutions are well designed for streamlining the installation
process, straight from the box. There are no complicated
servers to configure, no highly specialized professional
services to employ and no third party gateways or software
required for a fully functional enterprise solution.
What To Look For: Zultys is a prime candidate for a
takeover by a large telecom equipment maker. The company
acknowledges that while it is regularly approached by venture
capitalists and potential business partners, the right
opportunity has not yet materialized.
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FierceVoIP is a
bi-weekly email service covering business and technology developments in
voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
Editor: John Edwards -
john.edwards@fiercemarkets.com
Publisher: Jeff Giesea Sr. Associate Publisher: Ryan Willumson -
ryan@fiercemarkets.com
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