Polte Corporation

About Polte Corporation

Polte Corporation operated as a technology company specializing in location services, positioning itself as an alternative to traditional GPS. The company was founded by Russ Markhovsky, who served as President. Ed Chao, a former technology executive from T-Mobile and MetroPCS, later joined as CEO. Based in Richardson, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, Polte focused on developing its patented Cloud Location over Cellular (C-LoC) technology.

The firm's core business revolved around a software-only, location-as-a-service (LaaS) platform. This platform utilized existing global 4G and 5G cellular networks and cloud computing to determine the location of IoT devices. By offloading the computational work from the device to the cloud, Polte's solution aimed to reduce power consumption, decrease device size, and lower costs for manufacturers. The technology was designed to provide accurate indoor and outdoor location tracking without the need for additional hardware like Wi-Fi access points or Bluetooth beacons. Polte's business model targeted a wide range of industries, including supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare, by providing visibility into their assets. The company offered its services through an API, enabling clients such as cloud computing providers, IoT hardware makers, and systems integrators to incorporate location-enabled insights into their own offerings.

Polte’s C-LoC technology was engineered to calculate a device's position by leveraging cellular network signals, providing a more power-efficient and secure alternative to GPS. The company claimed its system could deliver sub-meter level accuracy for 5G networks indoors and sub-3-meter accuracy outdoors. Key features included real-time tracking, temperature monitoring, and shock detection. The company formed several strategic partnerships to expand its market reach, collaborating with companies like CoreKinect to create end-to-end supply chain tracking solutions and Druid Software to integrate its location technology into private 4G/5G networks. In September 2022, Polte ceased operations and began selling its assets. It was later reported that Qualcomm had acquired Polte's assets, integrating the technology into its own Aware platform.