4RF Communications

“Connecting further - connecting faster” is the catchphrase of Wellington technology business 4RF Communications, a company that has made its name designing and manufacturing the world’s best performing wireless systems for ‘super-long’ distance point to point communications.

“The combination of greater distance and more capacity means 4RF Communications can help public or private operators deliver more services and applications into rural areas than any competing satellite or terrestrial wireless technology,” explains Marketing Director Jarlath Lally.

The company has many different clients benefiting from its unique technology. These include police and other emergency services needing to extend their radio base stations further into rural areas; oil and gas companies can get more performance information back from their pipeline and offshore drilling platforms; water, gas and electric utilities can economically extend monitoring, control and communications to more remote parts of their networks; and farmsteads in very rural areas can receive telephone and broadband internet communication to the same standard as their urban cousins.

Launched commercially in 2004, the company’s second product platform the Aprisa XE is now available in over 70 different variations. This enables 4RF Communications to target as many global, regional or country-specific markets as possible. Each product is highly configurable, and most clients will customise the Aprisa XE to suit their own particular needs. 

Mr Lally says after the last two years of growth 4RF Communications is now recognised as the only global supplier of this technology.  Contributing to the company’s growth was the decision to reposition its product portfolio as a ‘premium technology choice’ as opposed to ‘me-too technology’.

“As far as our product went we knew we had the best technology, the best design, and the best performance – our customers were telling us,” explains Mr. Lally. “If the market had decided we were better, then we needed to do the same. So, we injected that confidence, differentiation and value back into the sales cycle. Over the past 18 months we started positioning the products more effectively and the result has been positive. We are selling our product value a lot more and this has helped increase revenues.”

Ninety-five percent of 4RF Communication’s revenue is generated from export sales of its Aprisa XE product. In 2004 revenue grew by 248 percent, in 2005 by 22 percent, and by 42 percent in 2006.

With Aprisa XE, 4RF Communications is working to become the number one supplier in the sub 3 GHz point to point market, a global niche that had traditionally been dominated by large multinational telecom vendors. As these organisations migrated their businesses to focus on more mainstream opportunities it has left a supply gap, which 4RF Communications is now exploiting.

Mr Lally says one challenge is ensuring both regulators and operators are aware that new generation 3GHz equipment exists that makes more efficient and intelligent use of frequency assets compared to older generation technologies. Educating the market is therefore a key focus for 4RF Communications promotional activities.

Trade shows, seminars, NZTE-sponsored trade missions and marketing roadshows are the main way in which the company engages with potential customers. It also generates leads by signing up to market information services which provide details on upcoming projects around the world.

To date 4RF Communications has deployed solutions in more than 90 countries, selling direct to the end customer or indirectly through certified channel partners.
“To fully exploit the potential of our products and to be closer to our customers we have established sales offices in Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, Asia, North America, Oceania and most recently Africa,” says Mr Lally.

He says the overseas offices are fundamental to the success of the business.
“They provide locality with our customers and the same time zone support for both technical and commercial dialogue. It’s fundamental in regions where establishing trust in the vendor is based on how many times a customer receives a call or a visit; in our market a lot of organisations won’t accept dealing remotely with a vendor.”

Of a total 61 staff, 52 are based at the Wellington headquarters. This staff comprises the R&D team, manufacturing and quality control, customer services, finance operations and sales support.

“When our customers visit our head office they can’t believe that with such few people, we manage to manufacture and export such a vast amount of product. We have a very efficient production process and excellent quality control,” says Mr Lally.

“Fostering a high performance work environment is what we pride ourselves on. The procedures and processes we have put in place will ensure these achievements continue and we can easily scale to meet growing production demands.”

Mr Lally says news of the company’s international sales achievements and financial performance is highly motivational for all staff and an acknowledgement of their dedication and hard work.

Contact: Jarlath Lally, Director of Marketing, phone +33 1 4704 4396, fax +33 6 7894 4219, email Jarlath.lally@4rf.com, www.4rf.com