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Florida-based Airspan Networks, perhaps best known for its work with Sprint on the Magic Box small cell, recently announced its acquisition of Mimosa Networks, a Santa Clara, California-based specialist in hybrid fiber-wireless solutions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In an interview with RCR Wireless News, Airspan Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Damiano Coletti said the acquisition is a “natural fit. They have a great distribution channel and a great set of award-winning products. It’s no secret we’re both portfolio companies, so there were obvious synergies there.”
He continued: “It gives us a way to take the Airspan product portfolio which is very feature-rich, very much carrier grade, and expand it to a larger market.” He mentioned opportunities around the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, as well as around private LTE and vertical enablement.
Airspan CEO Eric Stonestrom said in a statement the combined company would be better positioned as carrier upgrade from LTE to 5G. “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.”
He called out Mimosa’s intellectual property assets as well as the company’s experience in massive MIMO. “The strong distribution channel allows Airspan products to be sold to many more customers,” Stonestrom added.
“It’s not just a fun drink,” Coletti said of Mimosa. “The name is derived from MIMO. They have a lot of expertise in that area. We look forward to leverage their experience and their development centers in Santa Clara and Silicon Valley.”