Genband picks up Cedar Point for stronger VoIP position

Genband is increasing its position in the cable VoIP softswitch sector, announcing it plans to acquire Cedar Point Communications Inc., a privately held company that provides IP switching solutions for cable operators. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The purchase is the latest in a string of acquisitions from Frisco, Texas-based Genband as it consolidates the VoIP business.
Genband paid $182 million (net) to buy Nortel Networks’ Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions (CVAS) business in 2010, making it the world’s leading CVAS provider, supplying 600 service providers and two-thirds of the top 100 largest operators. The company now counts about 3,000 full-time and contract employees, said Mehmet Balos, CMO for Genband. The company bought Tekelec’s switching solutions group in 2007, and NextPoint Networks in 2008. Some analysts think Genband could go public as early as this year.
“With the Nortel acquisition, we got into the cable business pretty significantly,” Balos said. The Cedar Point acquisition makes the combined company the No. 1 cable softswitch provider with about 40% marketshare, he said.
“This will cement their cable play,” agreed Akshay Sharma, research director at Gartner Inc. Other players in the space include Nokia Siemens Networks, Cisco Systems Inc., Metaswitch and Sonus, Sharma said. Increasingly, cable operators are trying to offer their customers new features, including social networking applications, rich communications suites, presence, buddy lists and other features in order to compete with over-the-top service providers like Google Inc. and Facebook, which don’t own the pipe but have been able to innovate on top of it.
While the cable business is Cedar Point’s main focus, the company also has contracts with competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), wireless operators and universities. Genband will continue to support Cedar Point’s SafariC3 IP switching solutions, but will port its Safari Service to Genband’s Genius applications server. Cedar Point has about 7.5 million lines in service worldwide, including some major tier-one customers such as Comcast Corp., Charter Communications and Liberty.
“This acquisition will not only increase our cable marketshare, but it will also enhance our overall offering to meet the unique and demanding requirements of the high-growth cable market,” said Charlie Vogt, Genband CEO. “Our combined vision of bringing advanced SIP and multimedia services to the cable market is one of the key drivers for this transaction, particularly as cable operators transition to IP. We look forward to supporting Cedar Point’s outstanding customer base with what will now be an even more comprehensive portfolio of solutions.”
A significant portion of the employees will become Genband employees, although some administrative and corporate duplicate functions will be eliminated. Cedar Point is located in Derry, N.H., while Genband has offices about 30 minutes away in Billerica, Mass., a Boston suburb, Balos noted. The transaction is expected to close this month, subject to customary approvals and closing conditions.