KANATA, Ontario-BelAir Networks completed its Series C financing, which brings its total funding to $44 million.Comcast Interactive Capital and McLean Watson Capital led the financing for the Wi-Fi mesh-networking provider. Existing investors also participated in the round, including T-Mobile Venture Fund and JP Morgan Partners.
CIC also joined BelAir’s board of directors in what is likely an attempt by CIC to edge ahead in the race between carriers and cable companies to provide the quadruple play of services, including voice, data, video and wireless.
“BelAir’s modular, carrier-class architecture and scalability are well positioned to address the needs of multiple customer segments, including those of the cable market,” said Deepak Sindwani, a principal at CIC and the newest member of BelAir’s board of directors. “We have been impressed with BelAir’s channel partners and customer traction.”
BelAir also announced two new carrier-grade wireless mesh products, the BelAir50s and the BelAir100s. They can both be installed anywhere in existing cable networks, allowing operators to use their cable plant to deploy Wi-Fi networks for municipal and citywide networks, campuses, hotels and resorts.
“Wi-Fi mesh technology offers new service and revenue opportunities for the cable industry,” said Phil Belanger, vice president of marketing at BelAir. “BelAir’s new cable-ready nodes offer MSOs and cable operators an integrated, scaleable and cost-effective way to expand their core services and develop new applications for customers using Wi-Fi.”
