Fractus technology has become a global standard used by the largest telephone and telecommunications companies. More than a decade ago, this Catalan company made it possible to hide antennas inside mobile phones and also to use a single telecommunications tower for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G connections.
After years of silence, the Sant Cugat company explains that it has now proposed to address the Internet of Things (IoT) industry. “After an in-depth market study, we have realized that our technology is also used by manufacturers of alarms, medical devices that control patients remotely, as well as devices that monitor the geolocation of merchandise,” explains Rubén Bonet, who founded the business. together with Carles Puente in 1999 as a spin-off of the UPC.
The president and CEO says that the company is in talks with 50 large companies. “We know that they use our technology and we want them to start paying a license for it. If we don’t get it, we are going to initiate a legal process, since our technology is protected by 120 patentsâ€. In fact, Fractus has already filed two lawsuits in Texas against two alarm manufacturers, ADT and Vivint. She hopes to hold the trial in the summer of 2024, although she is open to agreeing.
It is a strategy that has already been carried out with mobile phone manufacturers. In 2011, it won a case against Samsung, which paid compensation of 23 million, while a dozen brands (such as LG, Motorola or Blackberry) reached out-of-court settlements. With this formula, the company has managed to get 95% of manufacturers to pay royalties properly. In the case of the telemarketers, Fractus has followed the same path. In 2018, he sued Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile and Sprint, who ended up agreeing with the company and became his clients.
Since the company started this strategy in 2009 (it used to produce antennas), it has received some 90 million euros of licenses from mobile phone manufacturers and 90 million from telemarketers. “In the last five years, this has translated into an average income of 17.6 million,” says the manager, who does not specify the figure for 2022. According to data from the 2021 Registry, Fractus billed 11 million and earned 3.7 millions.
“These are numbers that fluctuate a lot because there are companies that pay the license only once and others that do it in installments,” says the director of the company, controlled by a dozen investors, including both founders. With 15 people on staff, the company invests 2 million a year in RD with the purpose of registering new patents.
