Israeli Firm Hopes To Capture MTU Market

Avi Miron of GlobaLoop explains why he moved back to Israel to co-found his broadband deployment solution company, GlobaLoop. The startup believes its product will make all flavors of the broadband Internet more convenient.

by Jim Wagner [January 17, 2001]

Avi Miron was living in the United States with his wife and children when a friend of his earlier years in Israel, Yigal Jacoby, called with a business proposal. Miron was vice president of marketing for California-based fiber optic equipment maker Canoga Perkins at the time.

Jacoby, an entrepreneur who specializes in the field of networking management and founder of several such companies in Israel, wanted Miron's help to start up a new company called GlobaLoop.

GlobaLoop's Java-based management platform, he said, would be deployed worldwide to Internet service providers and carriers—a broadband and dial up management tool for multi-tenant units, small offices, and hotels. The tool would make it easier for users such as hotel guests and apartment residents to configure their Internet settings.

This year in Israel
The decision to move to Israel didn't take long, said Miron, speaking from his office in Israel's Neve Ne'eman Industrial Park, where he is now co-founder and vice president of business development at GlobaLoop.

"The decision to move was a combination of two things," Miron said. "One, I wanted to reunite with my extended family here in Israel, who I didn't see much of in the years I was in the United States.

"The second reason for moving to Israel is that it's easier to start up a business in Israel than it is in the US right now," Miron continued. "In the US, you need to raise a huge amount of capital and have an international presence right away. The atmosphere in Israel is very attractive to startups. We were able to start up our company with very little capital."

A flagship product
G.Loop, GlobaLoop's flagship product, lets users who plug in their computer to a building outfitted with the product to connect to the Internet without reconfiguring the connection settings, whether they are using dial up, ADSL, cable or the G.Lite or G.DMT flavors of ADSL service. In addition, G.Loop can be administered remotely through a Telnet connection.

The product is geared for the multiple tenant unit (MTU), defined as apartments, offices, condominiums, hotels, airports, and other public facilities.

"It's a compelling program for ISPs," Miron said. "Especially for fixed wireless applications. By using our product, combined with a wireless solution, ISPs will be able to bring a cornucopia of services that bypass the ILEC and the costs that ISPs incur when doing business with the ILEC."

In August, GlobaLoop signed a three-year, $20 million reseller agreement with Usen Corp. of Japan, the country's largest hotel cable distributor. Depending on the success of the rollout, the deployment could move to apartments, condominiums, schools and airports. GlobaLoop also hopes to use Japan as a springboard into the rest of the Pacific Rim region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.

Japan has been good to the Israeli-based company so far. In October, GlobaLoop wrapped up its second round of financing with $5 million for the coffers. The financing was underwritten by one of Japan's leading venture capital funds, JAFCO. Alon Technology Ventures, Ltd., of the Jupiter Group in the United Kingdom was the co-lead in the second round, as well as Israeli Gaon Holding Group.

Test trials have already begun in Israel, Japan and China, and should wrap up next month. Partners have also been lined up throughout Europe. After the trials, Miron expects to ramp up deployment in the U.S.

"[This year] will be the time for us to develop our business in the US," Miron said. "Primarily through alliances and OEM relationships with significant players in the market."

4.8 billion reasons for optimism
Cahner's In-Stat, in its report, "MTU Update: Growth Spurts in an Infant Market," predicts a big year for high-speed Internet access in MTUs, with broadband equipment and services likely to reach $4.8 billion by 2004. The report says that a new class of broadband provider is emerging, moving the POP to the buildings where people live. These "mini-POPs" allow tenants share the price of an expensive T-1 or other broadband offering.

It's sweet news for Miron and his company, which is poised to make its move into the MTU arena this year. It's also sweet irony that he had to leave the US to start a company that could one day dominate the American MTU market.

—End