Sequans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sequans Communications
TypePublic Company
NYSE: SQNS
IndustryElectronics manufacturing
Founded2003 in Paris, France
FounderGeorges Karam
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Key people
Georges Karam, Chief executive officer
ProductsSingle mode LTE chips
Number of employees
200 (2013)[1]
Websitesequans.com

Sequans Communications is a fabless company that markets integrated circuits ("chips") for 4G mobile phone technology, based in Paris, France with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. The company was founded as a société anonyme in October 2003 by Georges Karam. It originally focused on the WiMAX market and expanded to the LTE market in 2009. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2011. Karam is the company's CEO.[1][2][3][4]

Sequans designs and markets two families of LTE-only chips, one geared towards high bandwidth consumer devices like tablets and consumer internet access devices and the other for low power IoT devices.[5][6]

History[]

Sequans Communications was founded in October 2003 by Georges Karam. He had previously worked at Alcatel-Lucent, SAGEM, and Philips before helping found Pacific Broadband Communications in 2000. He joined Juniper Networks in 2001 when the company acquired Pacific Broadband Communications and served as Juniper Network's Vice President of Engineering and General Manager for Europe until leaving the firm to found Sequans.[7][8]

In 2006, Sequans raised $24 million in venture capital in a funding round that was led by Kennet Venture Partners. It closed another funding round led by Reliance Venture that was joined by Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, SAGEM, and others in 2007.[9][10]

Sequans was originally focused on the WiMAX chipset market and had more than seven WiMAX chips on the market by 2008. It expanded to the LTE market in 2009. Sequans was listed by the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SQNS in April 2011. A few months later, in September, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved Sequans' LTE technology for use in the country.[1][4][11] The company released its first LTE chipset to market in 2012.[1][12]

One of Sequans' SteamrichLTE chips was certified by Verizon Wireless for use in devices on its LTE network in January 2013. In February, Sequans was ranked the third overall LTE Baseband Supplier by ABI Research and the company released its EZLinkLTE modules in May of that year. The EZLinkLTE modules, one of the first to support LTE bands 4 and 13, were built on the Sequans Mont Blanc chip that was previously certified by Verizon. In October 2013, two of the company's EZLinkLTE modules were certified by Verizon Wireless for use in tablets and mobile computers that run on Verizon's LTE network.[13][14][15][16]

In January 2014, Sequans was one of two LTE chipmakers to provide technology to Verizon for its LTE Multicast demonstration at the 2014 Super Bowl. That same month Sequans' EZLinkLTE module was selected by KD Interactive to provide LTE connectivity to its Kurio 7 4G LTE Android tablet. In April, China Telecom announced that its LTE-only modems would include Sequans' single-mode TD-LTE CPE units. The company's EZlinkLTE module was selected for Best Buy's first LTE Insignia tablet in November 2014.[17][18][19]

In February 2016, the company partnered with Verizon to enhance LTE Cat-M development and announced the Monarch chip, a Cat-M1 and Cat-NB1 3GPP LTE Release 13 Advanced Pro compliant platform.[20][21] Sequans Calliope Cat-1 LTE chipset was certified for use on NTT DoCoMo's network in March 2016.[22] The same chipset was certified by Verizon to support its Voice-over-LTE applications in April 2016.[23] In May 2016, the European Aviation Network selected the Sequans' LTE chipset to provide European aircraft with onboard internet access to passengers.[24] That same month, the company's EZLink LTE module was certified for use on AT&T's 4G LTE network.[25]

In September 2016, Sequans demonstrated their Monarch LTE Cat M1/NB1 chip at the CTIA's trade show in Las Vegas.[26] Link Labs announced that it would use Sequans Monarch chipsets in its modules for cellular networks in October 2016.[27] In November 2016, Verizon conducted the first over-the-air data call using a Sequans Cat-M1 chip in a prototype.[28] That same month, Gemalto partnered with Sequans to produce a Cat-M1 IoT solution,[29] and the company's Monarch chipset was used by NimbeLink in its Cat-M1 embedded cellular modem.[30] In January 2017, Gemalto debuted the EMS31 LTE Cat M1 module based on Sequans Monarch chip and NimbeLink, LinkLabs, and Encore Networks announced that their LTE CAT M1 devices based on Sequans' Monarch chips were certified by Verizon Wireless.[31][32]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Ridha Loukil (19 February 2013). "Sequans, décrochage ou trou d'air ?" (in French). l'usine Nouvelle. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  2. ^ Anita Podsiadio (18 September 2014). "Sequans and USI partner to deliver LTE modules based on Sequans' Colibri LTE chipset for M2M and IoT devices". M2MNow. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Sequans Announces Conference Call to Review Third Quarter 2014 Results". The New York Times. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Emmanuelle Delsol (9 June 2011). "Sequans, la start-up qui séduit Wall-Street" (in French). l'usine Nouvelle. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  5. ^ "Sequans Communications In-Depth Overview 2016". Connected World. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Sequans Communications Company Profile". Hoovers. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Georges Karam". The Wall Street Transcript. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  8. ^ Jacques Marouani (20 August 2013). "GEORGES KARAM PRÉSIDENT DU GROUPEMENT PROFESSIONNEL GITEP TICS" (in French). ELECTRONIQUES. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  9. ^ Kenan Machado (20 April 2011). "Reliance Makes Profitable Exit From Sequans". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  10. ^ Katie Fehrenbacher (24 July 2006). "Mobile WiMAX Heats Up". GIGAOM. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  11. ^ MD&D Staff (15 September 2011). "China Gives Sequans LTE Technology The Green Light". Mobile Dev&Design. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Gilles Delfassy Joins Board of Sequans". iStock Analyst. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  13. ^ "LTE Baseband Semiconductor Vendors". ABI Research. 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  14. ^ Business Wire (7 January 2014). "Sequans Communications' LTE Chip Certified By Verizon Wireless". The Street. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  15. ^ Nick Flaherty (21 May 2013). "Family of modules provides all-in-one LTE connectivity for M2M". EDN Network. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  16. ^ Tammy Parker (8 October 2014). "Sequans' low-cost LTE platform makes a play for the Internet of Things". Fierce WirelessTech. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Sequans powers new Kurio 7x 4G LTE tablet by Techno Source and KD Interactive". iTers News. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  18. ^ Andrew Berg (29 January 2014). "Verizon, Sequans Demo Broadcast LTE Prior to Super Bowl". Wireless Week. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  19. ^ "Sequans' LTE chip technology powers Verizon's LTE Multicast demo for Super Bowl Week". Fierce WirelessTech. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  20. ^ Sue Marek (16 February 2016). "Sequans Backs LTE Cat M With New Monarch Chip Fueling Verizon Partnership". Fierce Wireless. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  21. ^ Alex Davies (12 February 2016). "Verizon and Sequans Ramp Up LTE Cat-M Chipsets For US Networks". Rethink Research. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  22. ^ David Manners (9 March 2016). "Sequans Completes LTE Interoperability Testing With NTT DOCOMO". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  23. ^ Dan Meyer (28 April 2016). "Sequans VoLTE, IoT Chip Gains Verizon Certification". RCR Wireless News. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  24. ^ David Manners (4 May 2016). "Sequans to Bring LTE Access to European Aircraft". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  25. ^ Steve Rogerson (4 May 2016). "AT&T Back Sequans Module for 4G LTE Network". M2M Zone. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  26. ^ Junko Yoshida (6 September 2016). "LTE IoT: Sequans Claims 'Big Lead' over Rivals". EE Times. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  27. ^ Rick Merritt (25 October 2016). "IoT Networks Get New Provider". EE Times. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  28. ^ Diana Goovaerts (November 2016). "Verizon Hits Cat-M1 Milestone With First Live Over-the-Air Data Call". Wireless Week. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  29. ^ Megan Crouse (November 2016). "Gemalto Announces a Cat M1 IoT Solution". Wireless Week. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  30. ^ Martha DeGrasse (7 November 2016). "Building the IoT: Samsung AI, device analytics, embedded Cat M1". RCR Wireless News. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  31. ^ Arlot, Pierrick (10 January 2017). "Internet des objets : Gemalto sort son premier module radio compatible LTE Cat-M1". L'Embarqué. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  32. ^ DeGrasse, Martha (5 January 2017). "Verizon Certifies LTE Cat M1 Modules". RCR Wireless News. Retrieved 24 January 2017.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""