A new startup developing faster internet access.
Beyond 5G, and into remote locations.
The Holy Grail of wireless internet is anytime, anywhere, and really fast. Unfortunately, despite the current marketing hype from the wireless carriers, we are still a long way from that being a reality. There are many parts of the world — indeed, many parts of the United States — where there isn’t wireless data available at all, let alone fast wireless data.
The fact is, connectivity has become an essential human need. What was once a luxury has become now an issue of equity — without connectivity there is no access to technology tools and global knowledge.
Diana Gamzina, an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, is working on solving that problem. Her startup, Elve Speed, has developed new technology that is capable of transferring data at high frequencies where large bandwidths are available. She holds patents that address key challenges in manufacturing components that can be a game-changer in the field of wireless data.
Diana has a PhD from UC Davis in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and is an expert in millimeter wave and near-terahertz systems. She has spent her career immersed in this stuff and she knows that 5G, while a nice linear improvement on existing cellular networks, isn’t going to be the leap that gets us to the full promise of smart cities, optimized factories, haptic technologies, and rural farmers benefitting from new agricultural technologies.
Elve Speed will first focus on niche markets that currently have to use satellite data because there is no access to cellular networks — these include maritime users, sub-rural houses, and backcountry users. As they scale-up they’ll be able to bring the technology to other sectors as well as to incumbent wireless carriers.
The startup is named after Elve, an upper atmosphere phenomenon associated with thunderstorms. It appears as a glowing ring that lasts a few thousandths of a second and appears to grow faster than the speed of light.
We may be 25 years into the internet revolution today, but we’re just on the cusp of a whole new era, one characterized by smart devices that are connected everywhere, and to people everywhere having access to knowledge and data anywhere. The technology being developed by Elve Speed will be one of the drivers of that new era. This is a Silicon Valley startup to watch.
