In 1987 the University of WA and Telstra (then Telecom Australia) created QPSX Communications Pty Limited to commercialise technology which would ultimately spawn the world's present day broadband telecom infrastructure. Two of Atamo's founders were there, followed over the next few years by the remainder of our management team. QPSX successfully negotiated distribution and later joint development agreements with European comms giants Alcatel and Siemens to bring the products to market; all of the Atamo founders played integral, active parts in these activities.

Fast forward to mid-1994, when a deal was struck with Jtec Pty Limited to acquire the key technology, and the Jtec Perth office was established. Jtec dominated the narrowband ISDN market in Australia; the acquisition of broadband intellectual property was a good fit. Work progressed on capturing the technology on three ASICs, and by 1997 the Jtec broadband products were being sold.

Jtec continued to expand its product business globally, including creation of a UK office and establishing a distribution agreement in the Americas and SE Asia with Silicon Valley's NET.com. Jtec grabbed the attention of Sweden's Ericsson in the boom of 2000; by the middle of the following year, Ericsson acquired the products group to use the devices as part of their broadband access strategy. When the bottom fell out of the telecoms market in 2002, the Atamo founders recognised a unique opportunity: the original group was still together, and with fully complementary skills.

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