Light Communications Alliance formed
Nokia and PureLiFi amongst founding members of new industry association
A number of companies have teamed up to form a global association called the Light Communications Alliance (LCA). They include Edinburgh start-up PureLiFi, Nokia, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), LEDVANCE, Liberty Global, Lucibel, LiFi Research & Development Centre, Velmenni, Zero.1, CEA Leti, and Institut Mines-Télécom.
The LCA will work on developing and refining the key use cases and deployment applications, as well as advocate the use of standards for this emerging industry.
Light Communication technologies include Light Fidelity (LiFi) and Optical Camera Communications (OCC), both of which have been attracting increased attention over recent years.
Global Market Insights predicts that the LiFi market will be worth $75 billion by 2025, creating broad, far-reaching opportunities for the related industries to benefit from Light Communications.
For PureLiFi this is a significant milestone in LiFi’s journey to mass market adoption; a light communication technology they have pioneered. At this year’s Mobile World Congress PureLiFi demonstrated Gigabit LiFi solutions in form factors small enough to be designed into mobile devices.
Alistair Banham PureLiFi CEO says: “The founding members of the LCA represent the highest standard in lighting and communications. PureLiFi is honoured to be a founding member alongside these industry leaders and believe the Alliance will have the influence to drive education and greatly accelerate the global adoption of LiFi. We look forward to supporting the growth of this organisation over the coming years.”
Light Communications technologies complement and enhance 5G wireless communications and other radio frequency technologies such as Wi-Fi. By utilising its greater available spectrum, light can be used to deliver larger amounts of data at faster speeds and with greater security.
Harald Burchardt PureLiFi CCO adds: “PureLiFi have deployed LiFi solutions around the world, spanning 24 countries. Our customers want to see the Light Communications ecosystem grow so that they can leverage the opportunities that will arise from global standards, certification and interoperability within this growing market. These are key for LiFi’s mass adoption. The LCA will help deliver the global consistent message our industry demands and be a significant catalyst for the growth of the LiFi market.”
LiFi offers a fully networked, bi-directional mobile communication solution using light, which has the potential to deliver massive bandwidth and higher speeds for short-range wireless communications. LiFi is well suited to various environments, both professional and domestic, including smart offices, smart transport, industry 4.0 and in the smart gigabit connected home of the future.
The LCA is a non-profit organisation, open to membership from all industries spanning both light and communications including chip manufacturers, OEMs, network operators, lighting manufacturers, and light communications innovators.
