"Our success mantra is to Connect the Unconnected - People, Places and Things"

Bharat Sharma, Director Presales, India & SAARC - Cambium Networks in a chat with VARINDIA outlines the key trends that define the market today and the major achievements it has seen in the year 2018-19

What has been your top trending (market pull) products/solutions/services of your company this year?

Wireless ISP has been the high trend for many years, where we are industry leaders. There has been a lot of rapid growth in WiFi and enterprise WiFi and also government and public safety with wireless video surveillance in particular.

Our solutions include point-to-point (PTP) and point-to-multipoint (PMP) radio devices, enterprise cloud managed Wi-Fi access points and switches, and narrowband internet of things (IoT) links - all managed with cnMaestro, a cloud-based management system.

What are the mega key trends that define the industry that you are a part of at present?

Proliferation of devices – As more devices continue to be added to the home, business and industry there will be increased dependence on connectivity. These devices will by default will be equipped with wireless connectivity, making each house, enterprise and industrial operation a network, with wireless connectivity as the glue that holds them together. This will accelerate the automation task in home and enterprises at a rapid clip.

Increasing broadband speeds – Demand for throughput continues to escalate based on the need to stream media-rich information and the growing population of video and voice savvy devices at a given location.

Increasing network backhaul speed – With increased demand at the edge of the network, the backhaul to connect edge locations is not keeping up with the end-to-end throughput needs. Innovation in backhaul infrastructure connectivity is needed to scale capacity to meet the needs of the users and devices at the network edge.

Security concerns – Open standards for edge devices increase the speed of innovation, but also increases vulnerability. Networks need a layered security architecture with easy management that encompasses switches, radios and access points to effectively manage security. Layered security will ensure that there is no single point of failure. Security needs to be designed in – not an afterthought.

Data distilled in the cloud – Edge devices will be able to collect data, and Artificial Intelligence in the cloud will aggregate and analyze data to deliver useful predictions and decisions. This will improve security and reliability. Networks will be comprised of many technologies, leveraging the features that best meet the specific information and business case requirements. Fixed wireless broadband in its many forms will coexist with other technologies to provide the best possible connectivity solution.

Please share the success mantra of your organization and your major achievements in the year 2018 -19.

Our success mantra is to Connect the Unconnected - People, Places and Things.

Some of our recent major achievements include -

Cambium Networks’ solutions have been instrumental in bringing connectivity to the most inhospitable places in the world, like Mt. Everest, have been used in disaster preparedness and response including the dramatic cave rescue in Thailand, and have even been used to combat rhino poaching in South Africa.

Ended Chicago’s IPO dry spell by becoming the first Chicagoland technology company to go public in five years. Cambium Networks began publicly trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange on June 26.

Announced the acquisition of Xirrus Wi-Fi products and cloud services from Riverbed Technology, Inc. The Xirrus portfolio of high-performance enterprise Wi-Fi access points and subscription logyservices, including XMS Cloud Management, EasyPass Access, Application Control, Xirrus Positioning System (XPS), and MSP Command Center, will enhance and accelerate Cambium Networks existing Network Service Application (NSA) capabilities and brings a rich set of new services and customer experience to our customers.

Broad market presence serving a diverse customer base, with over 10,000 network operators and 5,900 channel partners in more than 145 countries – used by businesses, governments and internet service providers to provide wireless connectivity from the core of the network to the edge.

Collaborated with Facebook to build high-speed connectivity solutions using Terragraph. Terragraph connectivity technology will be embedded in Cambium Networks’ upcoming cnWave 60 GHz multi-node wireless system, bringing high-speed gigabit connectivity to urban areas.

Double digit revenue growth across product lines and geographies during fiscal 2018.

Significant and strategic investment made in India with the opening of a Bangalore office.

VARINDIA recognized Cambium Networks with the 2018 Wi-Fi Vendor of the Year Award.

Recognized with the CRN Partner Program 5 Star Award in 2018, WISPA Manufacturer of the Year, WISPA Product of the Year, WISPA Service of the Year, Best in Biz Social Responsibility and SMB TechFest Best Product.

Have you signed any new customers this year? Which vertical is growing for you at present?

Hospitality and education are two verticals that are growing and very important to us as a company.

We are partners to India’s leading ISPs and telcos, and our solutions have also been part of many mission critical events of national pride like Kumbh Mela Prayagraj 2019, Bangalore Airforce Air show 2019, Chennai Stadium for IPL season 2018 & 2019, Global Entrepreneur summit in Hyderabad, Goa. We have also jointly built success stories with India’s leading educational institutes such as IIM Sambhalpur, Sambhalpur university, Central Academy for Police Training (CAPT) at Bhopal, Mayo College Ajmer to name a few. Among our hospitality clients are Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai and Radisson Hotel.

Other significant channel partners that we’ve signed this past year include -

ISP Supplies, a College Station based leader in the Wi-Fi and Fixed Wireless Broadband industry, signed a Direct Reseller Agreement with Cambium Networks and will begin distributing the full line of Cambium Networks products across North America.

Jenne, Inc., a value-added technology distributor and master agent, has been named by Cambium Networks, a leading global provider of wireless networking solutions, as a new distribution partner. Jenne will distribute the full line of Cambium Networks’ wireless fabric of connectivity solutions throughout the U.S.

Tizeti Network Limited is a Nigerian WISP using Cambium Networks industry-leading wireless broadband solutions to offer high performance, affordable Wi-Fi to underserved African cities, beginning with Lagos.