Motorola Acquires Wireless Mesh Vendor

While Motorola is involved in many areas of wireless technology including mobile phones and infrastructure for wireless operators, it has not previously developed its own 802.11 networking products. It has, however, been reselling MeshNetworks products and its venture capital arm, Motorola Ventures, has invested in the company.

However, the company provided no clues about what its long-range plans are for the technology.

"This acquisition will provide Motorola with technologies that will have a significant benefit for customers across all of our businesses ranging from mission critical and enterprise markets to automotive and home entertainment applications," said Greg Brown, president of Motorola's Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector (CGISS).

Mesh networks use Wi-Fi technology in nodes that automatically connect with each other to create larger networks that are capable of covering entire cities. Motorola provided no financial details of the acquisition, saying only that it expected the deal to close by the end of 2004.