Some of the former team from International Fiber Systems (IFS) have resurfaced with a new company doing much of the same work in fiber that they did before GE Security acquired IFS in 2003. George Lichtblau, who founded IFS in 1986, has launched ComNet this month, and the company will be producing products for transmitting video, data and audio over fiber optic. ComNet will also be unveiling an Ethernet communications product line for handling video surveillance/CCTV, access control, traffic signalization, incident detection and WMS/CMS control.
A statement from the company indicated that key focuses for ComNet will be in the areas of security, intelligent transportation and factory automation/industrial control. The company began official operation on June 1, 2008, and is located in Danbury, Conn., where they have purchased a large facility.
Lichtblau's non-compete with GE expired in the fall of 2007, and according to Skip Haight, director of marketing for ComNet, that's when Lichtblau started to pull the new company together.
"What happened at IFS is that when GE took over, they started pulling money out of the business," said Haight. "They were taking away the engineering and product development money. George realized we had to really advance the technology, because much of the IFS technology being sold was based on designs he had done 20 years ago."
Haight said the company is going to be extremely focused on customer service and new technology. He noted that Lichtblau had committed to developing systems for Ethernet-based transmission of security and building systems data. Haight added that the company will be doing manufacturing, design and assembly in the United States.
