Carrier infrastructure giant Ericsson is buying privately held BelAir Networks, a Canadian Wi-Fi company. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ericsson’s acquisition of BelAir has been rumored for sometime. The BelAir Networks’ indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi systems enable service providers like cable providers to build strand-mounted or tower-mounted Wi-Fi networks. They are deployed by service providers including AT&T and Comcast.
The acquisition will give Ericsson a carrier grade Wi-Fi portfolio, technological expertise, IPR, and established customer contracts and relationships, it said Tuesday.
The deal will accelerate the integration of Wi-Fi and cellular technologies, according to Ericsson. Cellular providers are increasingly integrating formerly “free” Wi-Fi services directly into their infrastructure and service offerings. Ten, $2,500 strand-mounted LTE picocells (with free WiFi for subs) will beat one $250,000 cell tower anyway you cut it.
BelAir gear is used extensively by AT&T (in NYC, Chicago and San Francisco), Cablevision (with a large-scale deployment in the NY area), and Time Warner Cable (with a large-scale deployment in the Los Angeles area). Bright House Networks turned on a 2,000 hotspot network across Florida.
The BelAir 2200 can be mounted on cable plant, providing both 3G/LTE and dual 802.11n radios. It has an integrated DOCSIS 3.0 or Euro-DOCSIS 3.0 modem for backhaul, and is plant-powered at 40 to 90 V AC. No expensive cellphone tower required.
Today BelAir Networks, announced the latest enhancements to its recently announced GigXone small cell wireless system. System improvements speed up and simplify the deployment and management of tens of 1000s of network access points (APs) while optimizing video-based applications and services.
New features also address service provider requirements for tighter integration with existing mobile and fixed service providers, making partner-roaming networks faster and easier. The GigXone system integrates with service providers’ existing core network and leading gateway vendors.
“With the GigXone system, service providers can offer ‘Gig Zone’ indoor and outdoor services with improved network capacity for millions of subscribers, addressing video and other rich applications that consume 60 – 70% of capacity, without the need to retrofit core or access networks to work with systems built for indoor enterprise Wi-Fi access,” said Bernard Herscovich, President and CEO, BelAir Networks.
Competitors include Ruckus Wireless and Israel’s Wavion, which is re-introducing their beamforming gear. Each has landed big deals in Europe and Asia. Ruckus and KDDI have teamed on a 100,000-hotspot network in Japan. Ruckus has announced a large number of installations around the world.
Alvarion recently bought Wavion. Wavion Base Stations feature 802.11n in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz unlicensed bands as well as 700 MHz licensed bands.
See Dailywireless: Ericsson Buying BelAir?, Verizon-Cable Deal: Too Cozy?, Cross Marketing of Verizon & Cable Begins, Verizon Buying Nationwide AWS Spectrum from Cable, Comcast Adds Wireless Tower Business, BelAir: We’re MIMO, Too! , Wavion: 3X3 MIMO for Muni Wi-Fi, Carrier-run Public WiFi Nets Expand, Towerstream Launches Wholesale MuniFi, AT&T Moves to Hotzones and Picocells, AT&T Hotzone in Wrigleyville, Free AT&T Wi-Fi for Charlotte and NYC Gets Another Free WiFi Proposal
