Corning has made a significant investment in its in-building wireless business by purchasing iBwave Solutions, creator of the leading software for designing, tracking and reporting on distributed antenna systems. iBwave offers the certifications often required by vendors, integrators and installers when they hire individuals to work on in-building systems. The Canadian company counts more than 600 operators, system integrators and equipment vendors as customers.
Corning is one of the leading vendors of DAS. Last year ABI Research ranked Corning fourth based on the number of DAS implementations deployed using its solutions. CommScope ranked first, followed by TE Connectivity (which is selling its wireless business to CommScope) and Axell Wireless. All of these companies have relationships with iBwave.
“Most of our clients rely heavily on engineers with iBwave experience/certifications to serve as the true subject matter experts,” said recruiter Blair Bode of Kineticom.
As part of Corning’s optical communications group, iBwave will operate under its current name as a separate entity. The companies said that iBwave will continue to serve its customers from all parts of the wireless ecosystem.
Benoit Fleury, the company’s VP of products and innovation, said “iBwave will continue to operate with full neutrality with all vendors. Corning is very good at that and has done that before.” Fleury noted that iBwave’s solutions are independent of vendors, technologies, and architectures.
“We’re very close to all of the vendors and will model their equipment into the database, so when you create a design you are not just creating with generic parts; you are creating with actual parts from Cisco, Ericsson, etc.,” Fleury told RCR Wireless News last year. “Whether it’s a base station, small cell, antenna, cable, switcher, splitter; any bit and piece that makes up an in-building network.”
Going forward, the iBwave database is likely to include more fiber-optic products and perhaps more products that are not primarily destined for wireless networks. Corning distinguishes itself in the DAS market by promoting a holistic approach to wired and wireless in-building connectivity.
This marks Corning’s second major acquisition in the DAS space. The company bought MobileAccess for an undisclosed amount in 2011. The purchase price on the iBwave acquisition is also undisclosed.
Follow me on Twitter.
