HPE wants to further expand its telecom business and to do so is acquiring Italian private mobile network provider Athonet. The company’s technology will be integrated into the tech giant’s Aruba wireless network portfolio.
With the acquisition of Athonet HPE adds a niche player in the field of private 5G and 4G networks to the fold. The Italian company offers companies Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)-based mobile packet core, SIM cards and radios for quick and easy deployment of private mobile networks. Athonet also provides IMS services for delivering voice and video services to 4G and 5G endpoints.
According to HPE, deploying private mobile networks is often a good solution for companies with large premises, such as campus environments or industrial sites. It offers them more mobile and wireless coverage, reliability and mobility.
Moreover, private mobile networks are often a good extension of already existing Wi-Fi networks. Especially when it comes to bringing down connectivity costs combined with providing high connection capacity.
Integration into Aruba portfolio
HPE will add Athonet’s technology to its HPE Aruba wireless portfolio. This should ultimately create a private network portfolio that will enable enterprises, as well as telecom operators, to improve their digital positioning, from the edge to the cloud.
Benefits of this private network portfolio include better connectivity of private networks through the combination of Wi-Fi and private 5G and faster deployment of (private) 5G networks.
HPE GreenLake and existing telecom solutions
In addition, this portfolio also offers consumption-based payment models for enterprises and telcos, such as through the HPE GreenLake subscription model, and better and more cost-effective management capabilities using 5G orchestration and automation for delivering workloads to all IT environments, among others. The latter occurs through the integration of Athonet technology into Aruba Central’s single management environment.
Furthermore, HPE is integrating the new technology with its existing software-based 5G solutions and subscriptions for enterprises and telecom operators. The acquisition should eventually materialize in the tech giant’s third quarter of fiscal 2023.
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