Strata8 uses picocells, PBX to offer telecom to enterprises

A new kind of wireless carrier is emerging, making use of licensed spectrum and picocell technology to provide businesses with small-scale networks tailored to their needs and designed to improve the bottom line.
Bellevue, Wash.-based Strata8 Networks Inc. calls itself an “enterprise-focused cellular carrier” and places picocells at business locations, allowing wireless devices to connect to the picocell instead of a wide-area cellular network and routing the calls through the company’s PBX system to cut down on the use of cellular minutes – and thereby helping businesses trim their wireless spending.
According to Andrew Wilson, executive VP of marketing for Strata8, the company’s research has found that more than 60% of business cellular use originates within the bounds of its own office, with landlines close by. Strata8 claims that businesses can save up to 25% on their wireless bills by deploying its technology. The company charges a flat fee per user for unlimited voice and CDMA2000 1x data functionality through picocells.
“We are a cellular carrier, we have licensed spectrum – we have anything you’ve ever thought about a telephone company,” said Wilson. “We have 911, directory assistance, all the switches and interconnections with other carriers – but we are going to market in a very unique way.”
Strata8 owns 10 megahertz of licensed spectrum in 16 markets, gained during auction 58; the spectrum covers parts of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The company launched its service in January and has gathered $8 million in venture capital funding. According to Wilson, Strata8 already has a Fortune 100 and a Fortune 250 customer and a trial deployment at the University of Texas.
Beyond its own picocells, the company scored an all-important roaming agreement with Sprint Nextel Corp., along with a business solution partner agreement. Strata8’s Enterprise Cellular product not only works on Sprint Nextel’s CDMA wireless devices, the company can sell any Sprint Nextel service and has roaming access to its network. The agreements also mean that Strata8 is allowed access to the Sprint Nextel Priority Roaming List function and priority over the Sprint Nextel network – so that handsets will automatically seek out Strata8’s network where available, but users will be automatically transferred to the Sprint Nextel’s national CDMA network so that the devices can still be used outside the office.
Users have two subscriptions; one to Strata8 Networks, and one to Sprint Nextel. The technology does not work with Sprint Nextel’s iDEN network.
Wilson said that the company’s competition includes voice-over-Wi-Fi providers, but said that Strata8’s licensed spectrum offers a distinct advantage. Businesses find, he said, that “the unlicensed spectrum is fairly small, and as they add more and more pieces of equipment it gets eaten up . but it’s very expensive to go on licensed spectrum through the carriers.”
Wilson also noted that because all of Strata8’s equipment is behind a business’s firewall, the company offers better security, particularly when it comes to data transmissions.
The company, which targets medium-to-large enterprises, is a finalist for an Andrew Seybold Choice award this year, in the category of most innovative business application. Strata8’s offering is currently primarily a voice product, Wilson said, with basic data capability.
The company’s technology is Revision A-capable, he said, though it is “not doing heavy data applications at the moment” but anticipates more explorations on the data side in the future.
Right now, Wilson said, the young company is focused on building out an enterprise-focused customer care system and gaining more customers. He added that Strata8 is seeing particular interest from the health care industry, as well as the manufacturing and distribution sectors. But, he added, all kinds of businesses want to save on wireless.
“We have not yet spoken to one telecom decision maker that said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense, we’re not interested,'” Wilson said. “It’s really fun to be in this position.”