Thursday, November 13, 2008
Ishoni (a Japanese word that translates into “convergence” or “working together”) is an angel and venture-backed company incorporated in May 1998.
T.S. Satish, managing director and co-founder of ishoni, explains the company's lofty vision to provide “broadband for everyone.”
What is the vision of ishoni Networks?
Our vision is to develop solutions for bringing down the communication infrastructure costs for small businesses and domestic markets. The company is in the process of developing solutions for ISPs and telephone companies and components for equipment makers. We seek to integrate telephone, cable TV and high-speed wireless into one digital subscriber line with voice and security processes.
Describe your “Gateway-On-A-Chip?”
The important feature of the chip is that it will enable the widespread development of broadband technology to residential and small business customers. The company's broadband gateway platform allows the end-user customer to combine high-speed Internet access, media-rich content and voice over a single cable, xDSL or wireless connection.
The Gateway-On-A-Chip combines voice, networking and security processors on one chip with a complete software suite.
How do you justify that the chip will be cost-effective?
According to our estimates, combining voice and data traffic on a single broadband connection can reduce businesses' monthly charges by more than 50 percent. Existing networking boxes, which typically retail for $1,000 to $1,500, generally contain separate chips to control such things as security, voice and encryption and each needs memory. ishoni's gateway chip does the work of all these chips. Plus it comes with software, some embedded on the chip, and some that gets stacked on the box's motherboard.
Can you give the product development details?
About 150 engineers in the US and India have jointly developed Gateway-On-A-Chip. It took nearly 18 months to design and develop the product.
When are you launching the product in India?
What is ishoni's business plan for this product?
We are planning to make the product available in India during March 2001. ishoni already unveiled the chip in the US during March 2000. We are planning to tap the US, Asian, and European markets for this product. We expect 50 million users for the product by 2003.
