Motorola Looks To Better 'Mesh' With Solution Providers

The program has its roots in Motorola&'s 2004 acquisition of Maitland, Fla.-based Mesh Networks, which had an existing channel of 15 mobile broadband VARs, said Paul Mueller, vice president of sales for the Mesh Networks Product Group at Motorola, Schaumburg, Ill.

“We&'ll be looking to add partners who are tech-savvy and who also have the delivery capabilities, in terms of system integration and installation,” Mueller said.

The program will include two levels, Gold and Silver, which will be dependent on volume commitment, he said, adding that there will be co-marketing and co-branding elements.

MotoMesh is a system designed to simultaneously provide municipal Wi-Fi access and serve the connectivity needs of public safety agencies.

Each MotoMesh access point has two Wi-Fi radios as well as two of Motorola&'s proprietary Mesh Enabled Architecture (MEA) radios. The access point operates in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band as well as in the licensed 4.9GHz public safety band, the use of which is restricted to emergency personnel.

Terry Brown, marketing manager at Viasys, a Motorola partner in Lakeland, Fla., said Mesh Networks&' channel strategy was to recruit experienced integrators and allow them to handle every part of the process, from winning the projects to selling, installing and servicing.

“The basic idea is to become a second set of hands for the vendor who typically doesn&'t have the experience out in the field that integrators have,” Brown said.

The MotoMesh solution is particularly well-suited to provide broadband connectivity to vehicles in motion, said Jeff Coil, director of sales at Trapeze Group. The Toronto-based transportation software vendor partnered with Motorola last year to bring streaming video, remote surveillance and public Internet access to city buses in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

This capability comes from the incorporation of 802.20a technology, an emerging mobile broadband standard that makes it possible to stream bandwidth-heavy content to a vehicle moving at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, Coil added.