PacketHop inks deal with Nortel

Aug 11, 2004 12:00 PM, Donny Jackson

MONTREAL—Mobile mesh network vendor PacketHop this week announced a co-marketing agreement with Nortel Networks, which will use PacketHop’s software to enhance its new fixed mesh network offering.

Although the PacketHop and Nortel mesh-network architectures are different in nature, they are interoperable and together offer an enticing package for customers, particularly those in the public-safety arena and homeland-security markets, according to PacketHop President and CEO Michael Howse.

“When fixed infrastructure is available like Nortel’s mesh wireless solution, you have the advantage of high-speed backhaul to the Internet,” Howse said. “When fixed infrastructure is not available, you still get the survivability element of PacketHop’s network.”

The co-marketing agreement means PacketHop’s solution will be promoted by Nortel’s “enormous sales infrastructure” as Nortel targets the $11 billion homeland-security market—a significant milestone for PacketHop, which is about a year-and-half old.

Meanwhile, PacketHop’s exclusively licensed technology that was developed by the military complements Nortel’s new mesh offering, according to Mark Whitton, Nortel Networks’ general manager of wireless LAN solutions.

“PacketHop’s mobile mesh system will further optimize and extend the value of our Wireless Mesh Network equipment solution to new and existing customers,” Whitton said in a prepared statement. “PacketHop shares our vision of redefining mobile communications with innovative technology that takes advantage of existing standards and non-proprietary systems. Together, we intend to transform the way the mobile workforce communicates and exchanges information.”

Separately, PacketHop also announced that it has secured $10 million in a funding round that was aided by the existence of the deal with a high-profile company like Nortel. “Certainly, it made it easier to secure financing,” Howse said. Howse said the Nortel deal is not exclusive and that PacketHop hopes to announce partnerships with other vendors in the future.