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Airspan Acquires RadionetTMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
In a move to expand its WiMAX/WiFi offering, broadband wireless access provider Airspan Networks Inc. acquired Radionet Oy Ltd. of Finland, a provider of municipal wireless hotzones, community networks, and mobile broadband systems for industrial applications.
Airspan acquired Radionet in exchange for up to $1.88 million of cash. In detail, Airspan paid approximately $1.75 million, in return for which 99.72 percent of the outstanding common stock and options of Radionet were tendered yesterday. Airspan will then pay an additional $0.13 million if the outstanding balance of shares and options are tendered for sale by November 24. With this transaction Airspan adds an extra asset to its already broad portfolio of wireless access products, including its recently announced AS.MAX product family that is compliant with the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard (WiMAX) and upgradeable to the 802.16e version of the standard. The wireless product portfolio can also be combined with Airspan's i-Tone softswitching platform, to deliver integrated VoIP services. Airspan claims to have deployed network equipment with a capacity exceeding 1 million lines in more than 95 countries.
"By acquiring Radionet, Airspan will be able to integrate its WiMAX and i-Tone products with Radionet's Wi-Fi technologies in a mesh-like architecture that will allow Airspan to offer such combined systems on a turnkey, fully integrated basis, for both licensed and unlicensed frequency applications," noted the companies' news release.
Expanding on Radionet, it was established in 2000 and it is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The company operates through a network of certified distributors, VARs and systems integrators in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It provides hotspots ports, mines and public transport. The company also offers link systems for wireless backhaul and enterprises. Radionet's environmentally product portfolio operates in unlicensed frequency bands using IEEE802.11 a/b/g WiFi standards, delivers connectivity with built-in bandwidth management.
"We are very pleased to be able to add the Radionet product portfolio to our current range of products," said Eric Stonestrom, president and CEO of Airspan. "The market for wireless broadband connectivity is expanding rapidly, and a significant part of that growth is coming from agencies and internet service providers seeking the deployment of 802.11-based Hotzone networks. By adding Radionet's expertise and products, Airspan will have the most advanced integrated set of products to meet this important growth area."
Airspan made news earlier this year when it announced it made its largest WipLL 700 MHz and 900 MHz Broadband Wireless Access system sale to date in the United States through its Authorized System Integrator, Stutler Technologies. The purchased system was to be used by Central Wisconsin Communications, Inc. (CWCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Wood County Telephone Company (WCTC).
The agreement called for Airspan to deliver more than 5,000 subscriber premise radios and approximately 100 base stations over a 2-year period for installation by Emporia, Kansas-based Stutler in CWCI's network in the counties of Marathon, Wood, Portage, Waupaca, Juneau, Adams, Waushara, Marquette and Green Lake in Wisconsin. CWCI initially provided data broadband services to its customers in these markets, and it later added VoIP services to the network.
Airspan
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit:
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