Corning announced that it has acquired SpiderCloud Wireless based in Milpitas, California, a supplier of in-building wireless solutions, on undisclosed terms.
SpiderCloud is a developer of scalable small-cell network platforms designed to deliver enhanced coverage and capacity for the delivery of wireless services inside buildings. Small cells are deployed by mobile operators and enterprises to improve network efficiency and end-user services.
Corning stated that the acquisition of SpiderCloud's advanced solutions and established position as a provider to key wireless customers is expected to create new market access opportunities. As a part of Corning, SpiderCloud will become part of the Optical Communications segment and align with its target of increasing annual sales from $3 billion in 2016 to $5 billion by 2020.
Regarding the acquisition, Clark S. Kinlin, EVP, Corning Optical Communications, said, "Wireless connectivity has become more a necessity than an amenity, and mobile operators and enterprise customers are seeking cost-effective solutions to enhance service for users inside buildings… with the acquisition of SpiderCloud Wireless, the combined product solutions will help drive optical convergence and enable fibre-deep architectures within the enterprise LAN".- SpiderCloud recently announced commercial availability of its Frequency Agile small cell, the SCRN-220, for its enterprise RAN (E-RAN) platform. The new SCRN-220 is an enterprise-grade LTE small cell that can be software configured for the major U.S. bands, including 2 (1900), 25 (1900), 4 (1700), 66 (2100), 12 (700) and 13 (700), with channel widths of 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz.
- The SCRN-220 is based on SpiderCloud's E-RAN architecture that includes a Services Node controlling up to 100 self-organising LTE small cells, capable of delivering coverage and capacity in indoor locations as large as 1.5 million sq feet. The product can support up to 64 active LTE users and offers 150 Mbit/s peak downlink rate.
- SpiderCloud also recently expanded its E-RAN system with support for LTE-U, leveraging the Qualcomm FSM small cell platform and the SpiderCloud scalable small cell systems. It noted that the new system was one of the first enterprise scale small cell system to receive FCC authorisation to deliver LTE-U capacity in unlicensed spectrum, and also supported software upgrade to LTE-LAA.
- In June, Corning Optical Communications launched a multiuse platform combining multi-fibre and single-fibre connection points and targeting carriers, operators and municipalities wishing to deploy fibre-deep access networks. Capable of supporting a mix of network architectures on the same fibre backbone, the multiuse platform is designed to enable LTE connectivity and future 5G networks.
