Two of the largest makers of base station antennas have agreed to cross-license their patent portfolios. CommScope and Kathrein signed an agreement that will allow each company to access and implement the other company’s patents and technologies worldwide, and relates to passive base station antennas, distributed antenna systems and filters.
Germany’s Kathrein is a provider of antenna technology, and CommScope is a dominant player in distributed antenna systems. In the U.S., CommScope is one of only two companies approved to develop distributed antenna systems for both AT&T and Verizon Wireless. (Corning is the other.) CommScope is also a major vendor of antennas, fiber solutions, and coaxial cable, but the company said its DAS business is most important in the deal with Kathrein.
“Kathrein gains access to our valuable digital DAS patents,” said Ben Cardwell, SVP at CommScope Mobility Solutions. As part of the agreement, Kathrein agreed to an undisclosed upfront payment and ongoing royalties specific to the digital DAS portfolio.
CommScope acquired that portfolio when it purchased TE Connectivity’s telecom and wireless business in 2015. TE Connectivity developed a digital unit that used Alcatel-Lucent’s common public radio interface to connect directly to the radio vendor’s base station equipment. Now that Alcatel-Lucent is part of Nokia, Nokia is using Alcatel-Lucent’s CPRI for many of its radios. CommScope is able to connect to these radios more efficiently than other vendors as with a direct connection it does not need to deploy as much equipment to attenuate signals.
Kathrein, a 98-year-old business that has been run by Germany’s Kathrein family for three generations, considers itself the world’s largest manufacturer of antennas. The company is providing access to a large body of intellectual property, as well as the opportunity to collaborate on future antenna research. Kathrein’s antenna innovations include an in-ground antenna system called Street Connect.
This is not the first time Kathrein has partnered with a U.S. antenna maker. In 2003, Kathrein agreed to work with Andrew Corporation on licensing of remote electrical downtilt antenna technology related patents. Four years later Andrew was acquired by CommScope for $2.6 billion.
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