Pending sale of Corning’s DAS and small cell business following a similar divestment by CommScope
Corning has found a buyer for its distributed antenna system (DAS) and small cell business, and will sell the unit to infrastructure company Airspan.
The assets involved include Corning’s 6000 and 6200 DAS and its SpiderCloud 4G and 5G small cell products for the Radio Access Network. Airspan said that acquiring those products, and combining them with its own neutral-host small cell and private network offerings, will enable the company to offer “the most comprehensive in-building wireless solution in the market.”
“As the buildout of outdoor fifth generation (5G) wireless networks reach completion, Airspan expects mobile operators, venue owners and enterprises to step-up their investment in providing high-quality 5G service indoors. This acquisition positions Airspan as leading supplier in this growth market,” Airspan said in a release. “The acquired business comes with a highly regarded product portfolio with over 10,000 installations, relationships with major mobile operators, public venues, and enterprise customers, a seasoned team, and a broad patent portfolio assembled over 15 years.”
“This acquisition is a strategic step for Airspan, reinforcing our leadership in in-building connectivity and expanding our ability to serve enterprises and mobile network operators,” said Glenn Laxdal, president and CEO of Airspan. “As we integrate this business, our focus is on delivering a smooth transition for our customers while unlocking new opportunities for innovation.”
The transaction is expected to close during the current quarter, Airspan indicated. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed; Airspan went private after financial troubles including declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, and is now majority-owned by affiliates of investment company Fortress Investment Group.
A Teral Research note on the acquisition said that Corning “had been looking for a suitor for some time because, on one hand, the July 2017 SpiderCloud acquisition, which was announced with great fanfare, failed to meet expectations, and on the other hand, the DAS business became very lumpy after its peak in 2015. … With its JMA XRAN virtualized software, JMA Wireless is the only remaining strong contender that Airspan, currently equipped with its cutting-edge vRAN OpenRANGE offering and augmenting it with the assets from this deal, will compete with.”
Teral Research also pointed the consolidation trend within the DAS industry, with both CommScope and Corning’s DAS businesses are now “gone for good.”
CommScope struck a deal in mid-2024 to sell its wireless business, including both its Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) business unit and its Outdoor Wireless Networks (OWN) unit, to Amphenol for $2.1 billion.
That transaction closed earlier this month, and CommScope is using the money to pay debt. The change shifts CommScope to a company primarily focused on the wireline infrastructure side of telecom and cable, although it retained its Ruckus enterprise Wi-Fi business.
