Ericsson Acquires Ambient for Smart Grid Techologies

Ericsson has acquired Ambient Corporation, a provider of smart grid communications technology for utilities. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Ambient smart grid communications platform, which includes hardware and software elements, features an open IP network architecture. The platform supports multiple communications technologies in parallel, including cellular, Wi-Fi, radio frequency (RF) and power line communications (PLC), and also provides serial and Ethernet connections. The platform enables the integration of various smart grid applications, such as smart metering, demand response, distribution automation and monitoring, and direct load control into a common infrastructure.

Ambient will be integrated into Ericsson's Global Services organization, which employs 64,000 services professionals based in 180 countries.

"At Ericsson we are increasingly using our experience in communications and providing managed services for networks that serve more than 1 billion subscribers worldwide to assist partners and customers in the utilities sector. We're helping utilities to adopt new types of applications and enable new business models, and I believe Ambient could make a big contribution to that effort," stated Magnus Mandersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Unit Global Services at Ericsson.

http://www.ericsson.com/news/1859937

Ambient was founded in 1996 and is based in Newton, Massachusetts.

In July 2014, Ambient filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.