Ruckus Wireless, a Wi-Fi technology innovator and one of America’s fastest growing private firms, is eyeing the Philippines as one of its key markets in Asia and intends to double its revenues in the country from US$1 million in 2009 to $2 million this year.

“I see a lot of expansion here for our enterprise and carrier businesses,” President and CEO Selina Lo told reporters during her visit this month.

Before starting Ruckus Wireless five and a half years ago, Lo was one of the executives who built Alteon WebSystems Inc. She sold it to Nortel Networks Corp. for $7.8 billion in 2000.

Now, “Ruckus is very bullish on Wi-Fi.” California-based Ruckus Wireless was the first company to develop and deliver “Smart Wi-Fi” technology that extend Wi-Fi range and enhance reliability by focusing and directing signals over the best performing paths while steering signals away from interference.

It makes antennas and other equipment that stabilize Wi-Fi signals, allowing networks to carry data-intensive services such as high- definition TV and other video.

It also sells gear to set up Wi-Fi hot spots and manage corporate wireless networks. So far, the company has shipped over 2-million Smart Wi-Fi systems around the world, competing in the $9-billion enterprise Wi-Fi local area networks (WLAN) market. Add to that, it has raised $51 million in funding from premier investors such as Sequoia Capital “ the funder of Cisco Systems, Oracle, Apple, YouTube, Yahoo!, Google and Paypal, along with Focus Ventures, Sutter Hill, Motorola, T-Ventures, Telus Ventures and Firelake Capital.

“We entered the Philippine market in 2007. We were quite successful in the last two years,” she noted.

“Our customers include the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Globe Telecom Inc., who both use Ruckus to support their hot spots. ABS-CBN is a big customer. We also have the Peninsula Manila, Waterfront Hotel, SM Malls and government accounts, such as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). In the region, we have clients like Docomo and Changi International Airport.” Originally, Ruckus catered to the wireless land space for home Wi-Fi to connect appliances from laptops to desktops, television and stereo but the technology became popular in the enterprise market.

Today, “Wi-Fi has become the wild card,” Lo pointed out. “It’s no longer a home or enterprise technology that’s stationary in the home or building. Now, all smart phones have Wi-Fi. In the future, even low-end phones will have Wi-Fi.”

As people change the way they use information and the Internet, more surf the web over their handsets. Problem is, the spectrum is limited.

“Carriers now look at Wi-Fi to increase capacity and I believe Wi-Fi will have a very long-term life,” the Ruckus President stressed. “WiMax requires licenses and spectrum but Wi Fi is unlicensed.

It’s free for all. Carriers find it cheaper if their customers use Wi-Fi hot spots than their cellular network. The danger is you can have low to very high quality service using Wi-Fi. So, the challenge is how to educate the market to know the difference.”

While the market is split between high-end WLAN switch suppliers and low-end consumer Wi-Fi companies, Ruckus has positioned itself to provide the value, features and functionality of high-end systems within an easy to use affordable system among clients who are eager for more mature applications such as voice, video, digital signage and other sophisticated uses.

The Philippines accounts for 20-25 percent of Ruckus business in Southeast Asia. The region comprises 26 percent of the company’s total market. India accounts for 43 percent and Greater China, 32 percent.