Cisco helped Telenor launch Working Group Two, which offers mobile operators a cloud-based core network
Cisco has revealed plans to acquire Working Group Two (WG2) from Telenor Group — which currently holds a 44.6% share in the company — for $150 million. WG2 offers mobile operators a cloud-based core network, before it was spun out in 2017. Now, Cisco is looking to use the acquisition to bolster its recently announced mobility services platform and help operators launch new services across the IoT and industry verticals.
WG2 customers include Amazon Web Services and Mobi, a Hawaiian MVNO.
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Masum Mir, SVP and GM of provider mobility at Cisco Networking, explained that WG2’s platform, which uses the web-scale playbook and operating models, is a “natural fit” with Cisco’s Mobility Services Platform.
“WG2’s technology and team beautifully align with the same approach: simplifying the Mobile network architecture to deliver a radically innovative mobile service,” he continued. “And with WG2 and the Cisco Mobility Services Platform, we’ll be able to boost our service edge deployment and API first strategy for application development partners, Enterprise customers and Service Provider partners.”
The end result, he said, is a mobility services platform that “can dramatically simplify mobile network deployments, provide enhanced edge experiences, enable new and advanced use cases, as well as support simple application development.”
This development comes just one month after Cisco announced plans to buy out private-equity-backed network monitoring and assurance company Accedian, which has been partnering with the IT and networking giant on assurance for telco networks. When taken together, these two recent acquisition attempts suggest that Cisco is becoming increasingly invested in the telecom space.
According to Mir, the acquisition of WG2 will close in Cisco’s fiscal Q1 2024.
