SCIENCE

ASSIA has announced that it has secured $20.8 million in strategic investment financing. New investors Telefonica, AT&T, and Sandalwood Partners join current investors Mingly China Growth Fund, SFR Development, Sofinnova Partners, Stanford University, Swisscom Ventures, and T-Ventures. ASSIA previously announced an early close of $10 million in this financing round.

“ASSIA is pleased to have additional telecommunications service providers close this financing round to accelerate ASSIA’s next-generation products to market. These strategic investments are an endorsement of ASSIA’s solutions and recognize the successful deployment of ASSIA’s first generation of software products,” said Dr. John Cioffi, Chairman and CEO. “ASSIA welcomes our new investors and thanks current investors for their continuing support.”

ASSIA builds world-class management systems for DSL service providers. ASSIA’s products enable DSL service providers to realize dramatic speed and reach improvements, lowering operating and capital expenses and generating additional significant revenue. ASSIA’s products and services deliver the performance and reliability needed to launch exciting next-generation services such as IP television, faster wireless data transfers to smartphones using broadband, and ultimately 100+ megabits per second (Mbps) service over existing phone lines.

Vicente San Miguel Maza, CTO at Telefonica, said, “Telefonica is proud of its leadership in DSL services and is committed to providing the best quality service to our DSL customers worldwide. Telefonica’s and ASSIA’s success in extending the performance of the copper plant is a testament to the innovation capabilities of both companies.”

AT&T’s Steve Sposato, VP Network Systems Engineer, said, “AT&T and ASSIA have enjoyed a strong relationship since ASSIA’s founding in 2003. AT&T’s world-class DSL network of more than 15 million lines has benefitted from the ASSIA alliance.”

Bob Kondamoori, Managing Director of Sandalwood Partners, said, “DSL provides 80 percent of consumer broadband in India, which currently represents 10 million lines, but consumer broadband penetration is just approaching 5 percent. Optimizing the copper plant is the key enabler of broadband expansion in India, and we are confident that ASSIA’s solutions will play a central role.”