Airspan Networks—provider of the Magic Box for Sprint—has acquired Mimosa Networks for an undisclosed sum.
Airspan said the deal strengthens its leadership in 5G network infrastructure, leveraging the combined teams’ technologies and products, sales channels and customer base. It also boosts Airspan’s existing North American presence with an engineering center in Silicon Valley. Airspan’s head office is in Boca Raton, Florida.
Airspan's product portfolio includes indoor and outdoor small cells and all-outdoor, compact micro and macro base stations, a variety of user devices and network optimization solutions ranging from sub-6 GHz to millimeter wave. Customers include mobile operators, cable companies, wireless ISPs and private network operators in public safety, oil and gas, utilities and air to ground.
Mimosa, founded in 2012, historically has worked with a lot of wireless ISPs; its solution applies to not only rural areas but suburban and urban areas as well. Its fixed access solutions are engineered for both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint deployments and it boasts a highly spectrally efficient technology.
It wasn’t immediately known how the transaction will affect headcount. Airspan said it will continue to leverage Mimosa’s channel-led sales strategy. The channel strategy will also be used to enhance the distribution of Airspan’s existing products for specific vertical markets, including private LTE and applications in the CBRS band.
RELATED: Mimosa Networks touts 5G fixed wireless to displace fiber to the home
“This important step in Airspan’s growth emphasizes critical new solutions in mobile and broadband and the addition of the Santa Clara team strengthens our capabilities in the disruptive massively scalable densification techniques that are required by the 4G/5G telecom expenditure cycle currently underway. Mimosa brings important intellectual property to the table and accelerates Airpsan’s path to delivering 5G features such as Massive MIMO to the industry,” said Airspan CEO Eric Stonestrom in a release.
“Furthermore, Mimosa’s disruptive and award-winning fixed wireless technology addresses the rapidly growing wireless broadband markets and further establishes Airspan as a leader in the convergence of densified 4G/5G mobile network backhaul and Broadband Access. Also, the strong distribution channel allows Airspan products to be sold to many more customers,” he added.
RELATED: Airspan gears up for 5G small cells in aftermath of GLOMO win with Sprint
During Mobile World Congress 2018, Airspan took home a GLOMO award for Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough for its Magic Box with Sprint—a product that was so in demand that Sprint had a hard time keeping units on the shelves. GLOMOs are the GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards, which some say are akin to the Oscars for the mobile industry.
Airspan’s DNA goes back to DSC Communications, where it was originally established as a product division in 1992. Airspan became a standalone company in 1997.