Founders of Icomera receive Östen Mäkitalo Scholarship Award

Mats Karlsson and Martin Bergek, both founders of Icomera AB, have received TeliaSonera's prize in entrepreneurship in Östen Mäkitalo's memory. The award was announced yesterday at a ceremony at IVA in Stockholm and is given to researchers and entrepreneurs active in telecom with potential to change our lives.

The technical innovation that is the basis of Icomera is a patented solution for wireless communication. Many of the thoughts are reflected in the work that Östen Mäkitalo did during his long time as head of research and technology at, what is today, TeliaSonera.

Mats Karlsson who first came up with the idea that the company's technology is based on, explains: "By combining different wireless networks we can offer higher bandwidth, greater coverage and ensure that you are always best connected. And with a volume based pricing of mobile data it will not be more expensive if you divide the data over multiple modems. The idea may seem obvious today but it was far from obvious back in 1998 when people were using old modems to connect to the Internet from their kitchen tables and hotel rooms."

Icomera created an entire new industry when they put Internet on high speed trains between the Scandinavian capitals in 2002. Today, Internet for passengers is an established feature in both new and old trains and studies consistently show that the ability to work in an effective way while travelling is attracting passengers from other, less sustainable, modes of transport. But the company has much higher goals than just Internet for passengers.

"We have always said that Internet for passengers is but one of the things that our solution makes possible", says Martin Bergek. "Even more value is created by using the connectivity to improve the operational efficiency for train and bus companies. To speed up the development of the various applications we have created a platform for application development within the transport sector and invite third party developers as well as our customers. The response has exceeded our expectations and already today there are solutions for eco-driving, CCTV, passenger counting and infotainment."