Privately held Mobility Networks, which sold technology to wireless carriers that linked wide area networks with Wi-Fi hot spots, has shut down and ceased operations, a former spokesman for the company confirmed. The spokesman declined to provide further information.
Repeated attempts to contact the company’s former executives were unsuccessful. The company’s Web site is no longer operational, and its phone lines offer only a prerecorded greeting.
Founded in 1999, Mobility Networks managed to raise more than $30 million in venture funding and counted more than 30 employees. In its short history, the company scored some significant deals, including a partnership with infrastructure company Nortel Networks and a trial with Rogers AT&T Wireless in Canada. Further, the company claimed additional carrier trials in Europe and Asia.
Rogers AT&T Wireless announced last year a successful demonstration of Mobility Networks’ technology, which allowed users to roam from its GPRS network to a wireless local area network. The carrier did not immediately return calls for comment. Separately, Nortel Networks last year announced partnerships with Mobility Networks and several other technology providers to offer integrated WLAN/wireless wide area network products to wireless carriers. Nortel Networks said Mobility Networks’ shutdown will not affect its offering.
Dubbed WiFiRAN, Mobility Networks’ technology allowed mobile operators to offer WLAN services without making any changes to their existing wide area networks. The company said mobile operators could leverage current investments in their infrastructures to offer authentication, charging/billing and security to public wireless LAN networks.
The company’s shutdown comes at an interesting time, as T-Mobile USA Inc. continues to build out its Wi-Fi network and AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless and others look to offer or resell Wi-Fi services.
