Soma Networks secures additional $51 Mn
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San Francisco: Soma Networks, a provider of Mobile WiMAX products and professional services, has announced that it has secured an additional $51 million of equity financing in an over-subscribed round. Investors include Daiwa Securities Group, Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments, Ridgeway Capital Partners and India Knowledge Fund, a private equity fund of Japan-based SBI Holdings and SBICAPS. The funded money will be used for continued expansion of international operations and deployments, including ongoing support of the industry's largest WiMAX network with Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), India's state-owned telecommunications company. BSNL and SOMA announced an agreement earlier this year to roll out a Mobile WiMAX network across three of India's fastest-growing telecom circles: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and Andhra Pradesh. Toshihiko Onishi, Deputy President of Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments, said, "We look forward to supporting SOMA as they continue to execute on the major market opportunity at hand." "The continued investments further validate our successful strategy of providing broadband voice and data services to bridge the digital divide," stated Yatish Pathak, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SOMA Networks. SOMA's WiMAX technology is designed to serve the Broadband to the Home (BTTH) market and narrow the digital divide for the more than 1.7 billion households that do not currently have access to broadband services and the Internet Economy. In Southeast Asia, SOMA has been the preferred choice of Malaysia-based Jaring, AlwaysOn Networks Bangladesh, Cambodia Data Communications and many other service providers in the region. Elsewhere, the system has been deployed by carriers in the U.S. such as AT&T, and by network operators in Eastern Europe and Africa.

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