DANISH WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY BOOM IN USA

WIRELESS: When US company SpectraLink in 2005 bought Denmark’s KIRK telecom, located in Horsens, it acquired a technological leader in wireless DECT telephones and thereby made itself the world’s leading total supplier of large communications systems to businesses.

Increasing numbers of companies, organisations and institutions are now changing from traditional fixed-line telephony to internet based VoIP, at the same time replacing the conventional telephones with wireless phones. KIRK telecom, one of the world’s oldest telephone manufacturers, is benefiting from the trend. The company is a leading supplier of wireless communication solutions based on licence free radio standards, and is also a pioneer in DECT technology. This is now being introduced in the US following a change in the law in spring 2005, and also due to SpectraLink’s takeover of KIRK telecom in late 2005.

Market opportunities
“SpectraLink is a leading player on the North American market for wireless business telephony. Its objective has been to buy its way into both DECT technology and the market it gives access to,” says managing director Ole Lysgård Madsen of KIRK telecom. “DECT technology allows integration of many applications of corporate wireless communication systems, such as alarms and positioning functions. And with the revised American legislation which now allows DECT technology, it offers substantial market opportunities in the US.” DECT is a widely used technology in both Europe and Asia. In Europe alone more than 1 million hand sets based on DECT technology were sold in 2005 in the business segment, and the market is steadily increasing.

Full wireless portfolio
“While we are among the world’s best in DECT technology which is developed specially for wireless speech transmission, SpectraLink is a market leader in Wi-Fi technology, originally developed for wireless data transmission, but now increasingly used for both data and speech. With its acquisition of KIRK telecom, SpectraLink is the only company on the North American market to have expanded its product portfolio to include the whole range of wireless speech technologies for the business segment,” says Lysgård Madsen.

In March, SpectraLink introduced KIRK telecom’s DECT products on the North American market. The products comprise wireless radio infrastructure as well as the wireless phones.

SpectraLink’s acquisition has given the US company access to KIRK telecom’s technology and production facilities, as well its market channels, without involving any the Danish company’s setup.

A free hand
“The new American owners have given us a continue our current develop- Lysgård Madsen. “It is prima- to the quality and creativity our product development. For make a wireless phone which specifications for use in poten- working environments where the smallest spark can lead to catastrophe. In addition all our wireless phones are so robust that they can “survive” in even the toughest working environments. The last time we attended a fair, we deliberately placed our phones so that they were constantly pushed onto the floor. When people tried to save them from falling, it gave us the occasion to drop the phones on the floor ourselves to show that they are constructed to resist constant knocks.”

Growth
Quality, functionality, design. And tailored solutions which fulfil customer needs. That is how Ole Lysgård Madsen describes the core competencies which make KIRK telecom able to sell both software and hardware at list prices in countries otherwise flooded with cheap mass produced products.

“Our strategy is to supply quality and value creation for our customers, both under our own brand and as an OEM for others. That has given us success up to now, and with the combination SpectraLink and KIRK telecom the way is open for further growth.”

http://www.kirktelecom.com