The year we consolidated
Turn back your recently finished calendar page by page, and you'll see the usual mix of birthdays, holidays and appointments made and missed, but it also was a calendar full of telecom consolidation. If you didn't notice just how many and how frequently companies did the M&A dance in 2006, don't worry, we've listed them (most of them, at least) below. Who was busiest? Motorola made at least 12 acquisitions, with its Tut Systems deal coming just before year's end. VeriSign had five in the first few months. NeoMedia had the most impressive short stint of acquisitive energy, doing five deals in one month — and even more impressive — in the shortest month on the calendar (though by December, it sold one of those firms, and its CEO resigned amid restructuring). It's debatable whether there really were more acquisitions in 2006 than in any other year, but if you feel like there were more, you're not alone. “2006 just felt more robust than 2005, and this will probably continue into 2007,” said Brad Busse, president and chief operating officer of M&A adviser RBC Daniels, which itself is the result of the recent RBC Capital/Daniels & Associates merger. (See, everyone's doing it!)
| VENDORS | ||
|---|---|---|
| BUYER | BOUGHT | TECHNOLOGY |
| December | ||
| Ericsson | Redback Networks | IP edge routing |
| Motorola | Tut Systems | IPTV processing |
| HP | Bitfone | Mobile device management |
| LSI Logic | Agere | Mobile/access chips |
| Brightpoint | Cellstar | Mobile logistics |
| Qualcomm | Airgo | MIMO |
| Qualcomm | RFMD's Bluetooth assets | luetooth |
| Alcatel-Lucent | Nortel's UMTS business | UMTS |
| IP Unity | Glenayre | Unified messaging |
| November | ||
| Motorola | Good Technologies | Mobile e-mail |
| Motorola | Netopia | Access |
| Tektronix | Minacom | Network management |
| Cisco Systems | Greenfield Networks | Metro Ethernet |
| IBM | Vallent | Network Management |
| October | ||
| Microsoft | Teleo | VoIP |
| Oracle | MetaSolv | OSS |
| September | ||
| Stratus | Emergent | IMS |
| Xconnect | Ipeerx | IP peering |
| News Corp. | Jamba (majority stake) | Mobile content |
| Motorola | Symbol | Wi-Fi/Bluetooth |
| Motorola | Vertasent | IPTV |
| August | ||
| RadiSys | Convedia | IMS |
| Nokia | Loudeye | Mobile music |
| Nokia | Gate5 | Mobile content |
| Cisco Systems | Arroyo Video Solutions | IPTV |
| Harmonic | Entone VOD software unit | Video-on-demand |
| BEA Systems | Flashline | OSS |
| GenBand | Baypackets | IMS |
| July | ||
| Vcom | Waverider | Wi-Fi/VoIP |
| Audiocodes | Netrake | IMS |
| Motorola | NextNet Wireless | WiMAX |
| Amdocs | Cramer Systems | OSS |
| Verizon Directories | Inceptor | Search |
| Motorola | Broadbus | Video-on-demand |
| Ikanos | Doradus | IPTV |
| June | ||
| Nokia, Siemens | Equipment unit merger | Mobile infrastructure |
| Nokia | LCC International's U.S. assets | Mobile infrastructure |
| Adva | Movaz | Optical |
| Motorola | TTP Communications | Mobile software |
| EMC | RSA | Network security |
| Huawei | Harbour Networks | Mobile infrastructure |
| May | ||
| Comverse | Netcentrex | VoIP |
| Mercator | Global Internetworking/ETT | Service integration |
| Motorola | BenQ's R&D centers | Mobile devices |
| VeriSign | Geotrust | Network Security |
| April | ||
| Motorola | Orthogon Systems | WiMAX |
| Induslogic | Lambent | Product engineering |
| Sycamore Networks | Eastern Research | Access |
| Andrew | Precision Antennas | Mobile infrastructure |
| Oracle | Portal Software | OSS |
| JDSU | Test-UM | Test |
| Amdocs | Qpass | Mobile content |
| Subex | Azure | OSS |
| Crown Castle | Mountain Union Telecom | Mobile infrastructure |
| March | ||
| VeriSign | mQube | Mobile content |
| VeriSign | Kontiki | Broadband content |
| Adtran | Luminous Networks (IP, product rights) | Optical Ethernet |
| CSG | Telution | OSS |
| NeoMedia | BSD Software | IMS |
| February | ||
| Lucent | Riverstone | Optical Ethernet |
| VeriSign | 3United Mobile | Mobile payments |
| NMS | Openera | Mobile access |
| Tandberg | Skystream | IPTV |
| NeoMedia | 12 Snap | Mobile marketing |
| NeoMedia | Hipcricket | Mobile marketing |
| NeoMedia | Gavitec | Mobile marketing |
| NeoMedia | Mobot | Mobile marketing |
| NeoMedia | Sponge | Mobile marketing |
| January | ||
| Ikanos | Analog Devices | IPTV |
| CA | Wily Technology | Monitoring |
| Motorola | Kreatel | IPTV |
| Motorola | Broadband Innovations' cable RF assets | Cable TV |
| VeriSign | CallVision | OSS |
| CARRIERS | |
|---|---|
| December | |
| Level 3 | Savvis' content unit |
| CenturyTel | Madison River |
| Eagle Broadband | Connex Services |
| Knology | PrairieWave |
| October | |
| Level 3 | Broadwing |
| BT | Counterpane |
| August | |
| Global Crossing | Fibernet |
| July | |
| Time Warner Telecom | Xspedius |
| CTC/Choice One | Conversant |
| May | |
| Qwest | OnFiber |
| April | |
| Level 3 | Telcove |
| Sprint | Ubiquitel |
| Telepacific | Mpower |
| March | |
| Level 3 | ICG |
| AT&T | BellSouth |
| February | |
| CTC | Choice One |
| Integra Telecom | Electric Lightwave Inc. |
| ELEC | Liberty Bell |
| Netifice | Megapath |
More useful resources from Telephony
Telephony's Network Security Webcast
Watch this Webcast to find out how you can prevent DDoS attacks, worms, botnets and other vicious infrastructure threats from crippling your operations. PLUS get access to the published service provider analysis --The Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report. Watch now.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2010 Penton Media Inc.
advertisement
Learning Library
Webcasts
Trends in Customer Activation
Join us Thursday, February 25 for a look at emerging trends and technologies for more efficient, effective activation of customer accounts and services.
- Connected Business Models Series: The Innovation Engine
- Connected Business Models Series: The New Solution - sponsored by Motorola
- No Spectrum, No Problem: Learn the Potential of WiMAX on the Unlicensed Bands – sponsored by Alvarion
- Inside Telecom LIVE, Best Practices in IMS and NGN Deployment – sponsored by EXFO
White Papers
IPv6 Visibility and Protection: Best Practices for Managing and Securing IPv6 Traffic
Network operators need the same management and security capabilities for their IPv6 traffic that they are accustomed to today for their IPv4 traffic. Download this white paper to learn more...
Featured Content
Special Report: Making Quality King
Read how changing technology and changing requirements have made it essential for providers to monitor, test, manage and measure the Quality of Experience of their subscribers. DOWNLOAD NOW
of interest
The Latest
News
From the Blog
Briefingroom
Join the Discussion
Resources
Get more out of Connected Planet by visiting our related resources below:
Connected Planet highlights the next generation of service providers, as well as how their customers use services in new ways.
Subscribe Now






