Vendors are prepping for next week’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain. In terms of preshow news, there are two primary areas of focus for testing and monitoring companies: “5G” and the internet of things.
LitePoint said it will be highlighting its test offerings for millimeter wave applications, as well as 802.11ac and 802.11ax, Bluetooth Low Energy and mission-critical IoT use cases. Rohde and Schwarz plans to showcase its 28 GHz test solutions as well as LTE-Advanced and IoT solutions. Semiconductor test company Advantest and W2BI will be focused on test automation as well as W2BI’s new capabilities for cloud-based testing of LTE-M devices.
Viavi Solutions plans to spotlight its 5G test solutions at the show and also released some data on the industry status of 5G testing and trials. According to Viavi, more than two dozen operators are lab testing 5G, and of those a dozen have also moved to field trials. Read the full story here.Â
In other test news:
–EXFO and Rohde and Schwarz partnered to emphasize the complementary nature of their solutions for troubleshooting of mobile networks. At MWC, they plan to tout the use of EXFO’s OpticalRF over CPRI/OBSAI application on its FTB-1 Pro test platform, which connects to the cellular baseband unit to detect signal interference. Rohde’s R&S PR100 portable radio receiver, R&S FPH and FSH spectrum analyzers can be used to locate the interference source for mitigation and problem solving validation.
-New Jersey-based Wireless Telecom Group acquired privately-held British company CommAgility for $18.75 million in cash and stock, with an additional $12.5 million possible in the form of a 24-month earn out. CommAgility develops embedded signal processing – including processing technology for LTE and 5G network validation systems – and radio frequency modules and LTE stack software for 4G and 5G mobile networks and applications. CommAgility’s solutions are often used in test and measurement products.
According to WTG, it expects CommAgility will see gains in designing custom LTE networks for the U.S. defense market, a space where WTG already plays with its Boonton and Noisecom operations. WTG noted CommAgility’s solutions enhance its position in offering small cell and distributed antenna systems.
WTG also said the combination will give it more than 30 engineers with both software and hardware design skills and “adds exceptional talent solving LTE and customized 4G/5G solutions.” WTG expects CommAgility to add $10 million in annual revenue to the combined business.
–Ixia, which is in the process of being acquired by Keysight Technologies for $1.6 billion, released preliminary results for the fourth quarter of 2016 as well as the full year. Fourth quarter revenue was $128.2 million, down from $138.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015; quarterly net income was $5.4 million, down slightly from $5.8 million in the year-ago period.
Ixia’s full-year preliminary results reflect struggling revenues. Total revenue for 2016 was $484.8 million, down from $516.9 in 2015. However, it expects to report $9 million in net income for 2016, compared with $6 million in 2015. President and CEO Bethany Mayer noted the company is seeing increased momentum for its network visibility solutions, with revenues for that segment up 22% year-over-year. Ixia also announced it’s moving to a 100% sales channel model for enterprise customers looking for new Ixia products resulting in that segment being entirely served through the company’s channel partners.
-Some network monitoring companies are using the first quarter of 2017 to talk about their 2016 growth, even though they aren’t required to report full financials.
Swedish network monitoring and analytics company PolyStar said it has had “sustained annual revenue growth at a rate in excess of 30%” since 2014. PolyStar, which is privately held, also said this week that Ooredoo Tunisia selected its solutions for both network quality monitoring and customer insight analytics.
Meanwhile, network performance visibility company Empirix, which was purchased by a private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2013, said it recorded the highest fourth-quarter bookings in its company history and added three dozen new clients during the year with multiple tier-one service provider wins.
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