Altobridge

About Altobridge

Altobridge, founded in 2002 by Mike Fitzgerald, Bart Kane, and Guy Waugh, was an Irish technology company that specialized in developing wireless network solutions to reduce operating costs for mobile network operators. The company was headquartered in Tralee, Ireland, with additional offices in the US, China, and Malaysia. Altobridge's core mission was to provide affordable mobile voice and internet connectivity to remote and unconnected communities.

The company's offerings were centered around patented technologies designed to optimize network efficiency. These included a 'lite-site' solution, which was a solar-powered base station system that used satellite backhaul, significantly lowering deployment and operational costs in areas with unreliable or non-existent power grids. Key technologies developed by Altobridge were its Split Architecture™ for transmission and power optimization, Local Connectivity™ for local voice switching, and Data-at-the-Edge™ for reducing mobile data bandwidth requirements on networks by as much as 50%. These solutions were aimed at mobile network operators serving remote communities, enterprises, maritime, and aeronautical markets. Altobridge's business model included providing these as a fully managed service, which involved handling the complexities of connecting subscribers in challenging environments at lower costs.

Throughout its history, Altobridge reached several milestones. In 2007, it licensed its Local Connectivity Platform to Ericsson. A significant expansion occurred in 2010 when Altobridge acquired ADC's portfolio of GSM base station and switching products, along with the related intellectual property and customer base. The company gained recognition in September 2011 when the World Economic Forum named it a 2012 technology pioneer. Altobridge secured significant funding, including a $12 million Series C round in 2011 and a subsequent $7.8 million investment in 2013 from notable investors like Intel Capital and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Despite its technological advancements and successful deployments in over 20 countries, the company faced financial difficulties. In June 2014, it went into receivership, leading to the loss of 45 jobs in Ireland and 85 internationally. The company's assets, primarily its valuable software and patent portfolio, were acquired by iDirect, a satellite communications firm, for €4 million.