Philips Lighting Introduces Light Fidelity (LiFi): Broadband Data Through Light, and Changes Name

Author photo: Larry O'Brien
ByLarry O'Brien
Category:
Company and Product News

Philips Lighting is now offering Light Fidelity (LiFi), a technology in which high quality LED lighting provides a broadband Internet connection through light waves.  As the lighting company for the Internet of Things, Philips Lighting is the first global lighting company to offer LiFi-enabled luminaires from its existing office lighting portfolio.

Light Fidelity: Broadband Internet Connection and Quality Illumination

LiFi is a two-way, high-speed wireless technology similar to WiFi but uses light waves instead of radio waves to transmit data.  Philips Lighting's office luminaires enabled with LiFi technology provide broadband connection with a speed of 30 Mb per second (Mb/s) without compromising lighting quality.  With 30Mb/s a user can stream simultaneously several HD quality videos while having video calls.

Icade, the French real estate investment company, is piloting the technology in its smart office in La Defense, Paris.

 

Philips Lighting announces intention to change company name to Signify while keeping the Philips brand for its products

In a separate press release, Philips Lighting announced its intention to change its name from Philips Lighting to Signify. The choice of the new company name originates from the fact that light becomes an intelligent language, which connects and conveys meaning.

The company will continue to use the Philips brand, the most trusted lighting brand in the world, under the existing licensing agreement with Royal Philips.

Philips Lighting's roots date back more than 125 years to the business founded by Frederik and Gerard Philips in 1891 in the Dutch town of Eindhoven. Throughout its history, the company has been at the forefront of many of the lighting industry's major advancements. Today, it leads the industry worldwide in conventional, LED and connected lighting, with the largest connected lights network in the world.

The new company name satisfies the company's contractual requirements under the Company Name License Agreement with Royal Philips, which requires that it changes less than 18 months after Royal Philips no longer has a controlling interest.

In view of the renaming of the company, a proposal to amend the articles of association of Philips Lighting N.V. will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 15.  The Philips Lighting stock exchange ticker will remain LIGHT.

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