The world’s largest maker of telecom networking equipment is making a big bet on Wi-Fi. Sweden’s Ericsson (ERIC) says it will buy privately held BelAir Networks for an undisclosed sum, confirming reports that first appeared last month. “We are very excited today because we believe that there is a huge interest in the market for Wi-Fi complementing 3GPP technology,” Ericsson CTO Ulf Ewaldsson told RCR Wireless News.
“We have decided to acquire BelAir because they are leaders in carrier grade Wi-Fi solutions and in projects that have very large numbers of cells and are connnected to controllers that make it possible to run traffic and do authentication and tie in to the core network,” says Ewaldsson. The deal gives Ericsson access to Ontario, Canada-based BelAir’s small cell solution. The company has been able to offload data traffic by hanging picocells from cable in metro areas, and has been able to integrate these cells into macro networks.
Ewaldsson says Ericsson’s goal is to help carriers offer wireless customers a seamless experience. “The network will make the decision about how to connect,” he says, in a way that will be transparent to the user.
As part of the transaction, Ericsson will gain access to BelAir’s intellectual property rights, and established customer contracts and relationships, and will integrate BelAir’s approximately 120 employees. Ewaldsson says the deal is a good fit geographically as well as technically. “We are already very present in Ottawa,” he says. “As you know we bought part of Nortel Networks and we have a a major research and development center for 4G in Ottawa.”
Ericsson’s acquisition may encourage BelAir’s competitors to look for their own dance partners. Ruckus Wireless is a competitor in the Wi-Fi space that has been contemplating an initial public offering, but now the company’s high profile CEO Selina Lo may have buyout offers to consider as well.
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