Intel Capital stakes G.fast claim with major investment in Sckipio

Startup telecoms equipment maker Sckipio Technologies has announced backing from Intel Capital for its G.fast modem technology.

Investment from the venture capital arm of chip making giant Intel is being interpreted as a massive endorsement for delivering fiber-speed broadband over copper.

Sckipio, a fabless semiconductor company founded in Israel in 2012, has been working closely Intel since the beginnings of the G.fast technology market. The two firms jointly announced their first reference design for a G.fast residential gateway in October 2014. In the 12 months since then Sckipio has pioneered new products in the G.fast technology sector. It was the first vendor to create a 16-port distribution point unit and created the first equipment to run UHDTV content across G.fast. This year it also became the first telecoms company to demonstrate software defined networking (SDN) running over G.fast, in a joint partnership with telco AT&T.

This year it was also recognised for an invention that analysts said would change the dynamics of the broadband access market, by creating a system that could deliver speeds of 1Gbps running over 300 meters of copper.

G.fast has been pioneered by BT’s research and development labs and industry partners since 2007. Recently BT announced a breakthrough when it achieved speeds of 1.8Gbps over 100 metres of copper, under lab conditions. The involvement of Intel in this market could help push the boundaries for the technology, according to Dan Artusi, Intel’s general manager of its Connected Home Division. “This strategic investment is another for Sckipio to deliver fibre-like speeds to the people on existing copper infrastructure,” said Artusi.

The investment from Intel Capital, means Sckipio will step up its rate of inventions for the broadband access market, said its CEO David Baum.

The Intel Capital investment is Sckipio’s third round of funding. Previously, Sckipio raised $27 million from venture capital firms Amiti Ventures, Aviv Ventures, Genesis Partners, Gemini Israel Ventures and Pitango Venture Capital. Details of the latest investment were not shared.