-
The addition of Edzcom gives Boldyn immediate expertise in private wireless.
-
Edzcom's portfolio includes more than 50 private networks in Europe.
-
75% of Boldyn's business is in the U.S.
Boldyn Networks, a company that mainly considers itself a neutral host provider, has closed its acquisition of Edzcom, which was the private wireless networks business unit within Cellnex.
Edzcom provides private 4G and 5G networks across enterprise verticals, including in the manufacturing, transport, oil and gas, energy and mining industries. Its portfolio includes more than 50 private networks in Europe.
Fierce Wireless spoke with Igor Leprince, Group CEO of Boldyn Networks, last week at MWC 2024 in Barcelona. He noted that the company recently rebranded as Boldyn after bringing together a number of companies, including BAI Communications, Mobilitie, Transit Wireless, ZenFi Networks, Signal Point Systems and Vilicom.
Leprince said the re-branding went very well. But he said that prior to the re-brand:
“It was a mess for us, operating on six brands, especially in the U.S.”
He noted that Boldyn has a very large portfolio. And now, of course, it will be adding Edzcom to the mix.
Boldyn is based in the U.K., but about 75% of its business is in the U.S. Because Boldyn is a private company, it doesn’t reveal its revenues. But it employs roughly 1,000 people around the world.
In addition to neutral host networks for large public venues, it also installs wireless for large transportation systems; it deploys outdoor communications equipment such as cell towers, small cells and fiber; and it has a big project in New York City, deploying free public Wi-Fi under the LinkNYC banner.
While Boldyn has done a lot of neutral host projects using traditional distributed antenna systems (DAS), the addition of Edzcom gives it immediate expertise in private wireless.
“It’s an important strategy focus for us,” said Leprince. “It fits into the enterprise.” He said that Boldyn acquired Edzcom for the European coverage. But its technology, use cases and partnerships with the likes of Nokia and Ericsson position it well for providing private wireless networks in the U.S. as well.
Currently, Boldyn is doing a big private wireless project for Ports America, which includes more than 40 marine ports.
Leprince didn’t mention why Boldyn won the Ports America project. But both Ports America and Boldyn are owned by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
Another huge project for Boldyn is a public wireless network for an offshore wind farm off the U.K. called Hornsea 3. The wind farm, which is under construction, will become the world’s largest wind farm, powering 1.4 million homes. It’s connected to the mainland core network via fiber. Orsted, the company building the wind farm, is a Vodafone customer, so the wireless network is tailored to Vodafone SIMs.