Hewlett Packard Enterprise Doubles Down on Private 5G, Extends Leadership in Wireless Connectivity with Acquisition of Athonet
February 23 2023 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
Athonet acquisition strengthens HPE’s private networking
capabilities to help enterprise customers accelerate 5G deployments
and telco customers drive new revenue streams
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced the
expansion of its connected edge-to-cloud offering with the
acquisition of Athonet, a private cellular network technology
provider that delivers mobile core networks to enterprises and
communication service providers. Combined with the HPE telco and
Aruba networking portfolios, Athonet will put HPE at the forefront
of a growing market that is predicted by IDC to increase to more
than $1.6 billion1 by 2026.
Based in Vicenza, Italy, Athonet has more than 15 years of
experience delivering 4G and 5G mobile core solutions to customers
and partners globally. Athonet is an award-winning technology
pioneer with more than 450 successful customer deployments in
various industries, including leading mobile operators, hospitals,
airports, transportation ports, utilities, government and public
safety organizations.
With enterprises facing complex connectivity challenges across
large and remote sites, private 5G offers high levels of coverage,
reliability and mobility across campus and industrial environments.
It also augments the cost-effective, high-capacity connectivity
provided by Wi-Fi. The incorporation of Athonet’s technology will
allow HPE to deliver private networking capabilities directly to
enterprises as part of HPE’s Aruba networking portfolio, while also
enabling communications service providers (CSPs) to quickly deploy
private 5G networks for their customers.
“Telco customers are looking for simpler ways to deploy private
5G networks to meet growing customer expectations at the connected
edge,” said Tom Craig, global vice president and general manager,
Communications Technology Group at HPE. “At the same time,
enterprise customers are demanding a customized 5G experience with
low-latency, segregated resources, extended range and security
across campus and industrial environments that complement their
existing wireless networks. With the acquisition of Athonet, HPE
now has one of the most complete private 5G and Wi-Fi portfolios
for CSP and enterprise customers – and we will offer it as a
service through HPE GreenLake.”
HPE expands private 5G solutions for both telcos and the
enterprise
HPE will integrate Athonet’s technology into its existing CSP
and Aruba networking enterprise offerings to create a private
networking portfolio that accelerates digital transformation from
edge-to-cloud. The networking portfolio will provide the following
benefits:
- Enhanced private networks that combine the high capacity
of Wi-Fi with the coverage and mobility of 5G
- Accelerated private 5G deployments that improve agility
and innovation to help telco B2B teams and enterprise
customers
- New enterprise revenue streams for telcos with
differentiated services leveraging 5G and Wi-Fi
- Alignment of costs to revenues with consumption-based
models for enterprises and telcos through HPE GreenLake, reducing
the risk of entering new markets
- Management of operational complexity and cost
efficiency with 5G orchestration and zero-touch automation to
deliver new workloads from edge-to-cloud
With 5G investments running into the billions of dollars, CSPs
are looking for simple ways to meet customer needs and drive new
B2B revenue by deploying both edge compute and private 5G networks.
The addition of Athonet’s software to HPE’s telco portfolio
enhances one of the broadest communications portfolios in the
market, which serves a base of more than 300 customers across 160
countries and connects more than one billion mobile devices
worldwide. Building on its existing private 5G solutions, HPE’s
enhanced offering for CSPs will support private 4G and 5G networks
and include telco-grade orchestration and automation capabilities.
These capabilities will help launch new B2B services that meet
growing customer expectations for the connected edge.
“Athonet was founded to provide customers with private 4G and 5G
solutions that deliver carrier-grade reliability and performance to
suit their increasing and more challenging connectivity needs,”
said Gianluca Verin, CEO and co-founder of Athonet. “We are excited
to join HPE and combine our highly skilled teams as we expand our
joint service provider offerings for the rapidly growing private 5G
market and build on HPE’s strategy to be the leading edge-to-cloud
solutions provider.”
Private 5G offers enterprises new capabilities that are
ultra-secure, easy to deploy and manage, ready for highly
specialized applications such as robotics and industrial IoT, data
networks and pipelines, and security systems facilitation. The
acquisition of Athonet strengthens Aruba’s connected edge
portfolio, providing the unique and highly sought-after ability to
deliver fully integrated Wi-Fi and private 5G networks. Integration
with Aruba Central will enable network managers to administer Wi-Fi
and private 5G through a single pane of glass and bring to bear the
power of AI-powered insights, workflow automation, and robust
security.
HPE GreenLake, HPE’s edge-to-cloud platform, will offer Athonet
private 5G offerings, combining all costs for Wi-Fi and private 5G
into one single monthly subscription with no capital expenditure.
Flexible consumption options, including HPE’s networking as a
service, mean private 5G networks can be deployed with reduced
risk, little upfront investment and scaled according to demand.
HPE portfolio integration and availability
HPE will integrate Athonet’s solutions with its existing telco
software assets and plans to make them available to customers some
time following the close of the transaction. HPE will also
integrate the solutions with the Aruba networking portfolio in the
near future. The transaction is expected to close at the beginning
of the third quarter of HPE’s 2023 fiscal year, subject to
regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
1 Source: IDC, Worldwide Private LTE/5GWirelessInfrastructure
Forecast, 2022–2026, doc #US48891622, March 2022. Predicting more
than $1.6 billion in enterprise core (EPC/vEPC and 5G core)
revenue.
About Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is the global
edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes
by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on
decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way
people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent
technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud
Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent
Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience
across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business
models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance.
For more information, visit: www.hpe.com
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U.S. & Canada: Ben Stricker Ben.Stricker@hpe.com
EMEA, APJ & LATAM: Alastair McCormick
Alastair.McCormick@hpe.com
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