News bites: Another UK chipmaker gets a multi-billion dollar buyout offerNews bites: Another UK chipmaker gets a multi-billion dollar buyout offer

Also included in our late afternoon summary of news and comment: Dish picks Aviat for backhaul, DZS closes its Optelian acquisition and Verizon takes on gamer complainers.

Dialog, a supplier of chips for smartphones and IoT devices from Apple, Samsung and others, is being scooped up by Japan's Renesas Electronics, a maker of automotive chips. Renesas said it would pay about $5.9 billion for the UK-based company. As pointed out by MarketWatch, the deal is sure to attract attention from UK regulators, who have already been wringing their hands about Nvidia's takeover of Arm. Qualcomm, in response to the Nvidia–Arm deal, is set to splash $1.4 billion for a chip startup called Nuvia, despite the fact that it sounds like an artificial sweetener.

The O-Series arrives

DZS, formerly known as Dasan Zhone, said it completed its purchase of Optelian. Optelian's portfolio of optical transport solutions will become DZS's new O-Series of products aimed at helping service providers beef up their mobile backhaul networks to accommodate the constant growth of 4G and 5G traffic. For more acquisition details, including why an access equipment vendor is suddenly interested in coherent optics, please see our earlier report on Light Reading. "DZS" is also the initials used by the Detroit Zoological Society, which welcomed two new polar bear cubs into the world last month.

Aviat wins with Dish

Speaking of backhaul, Austin-based Aviat Networks was selected by Dish to help supply microwave transport gear to provide midhaul and backhaul connectivity for the company's 5G network. "We have the best microwave solutions on the market today," said Aviat CEO Pete Smith, as quoted in the company's press release. We don't meet many CEOs brimming with that kind of confidence.

5G is everywhere (some restrictions apply)

In Verizon's Super Bowl ad for its 5G service, a cartoon version of Samuel L. Jackson took gamers to task about their habit of blaming technology mishaps for their miserable reflexes. "Stop blaming the network," Jackson bellowed at a gathering of creatures, overrated football players and animated shallots (or maybe garlic cloves? I dunno). "This is 5G Ultra Wideband, now in parts of many cities," Jackson said. If you happen to be in large parts of many other cities, we assume, you are free to continue grousing about the network. We'll keep you updated.

In other news...

Have a good evening, polar bears.

— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading