A $475 million deal to buy Intucell will get Cisco another contract at AT&T as well as new ways to self-manage forthcoming small-cell networks

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

January 23, 2013

1 Min Read
Cisco to Buy AT&T's Favorite SON Startup

Cisco Systems Inc. plans to spend US$475 million on 4G technology startup Intucell, which already has a network-wide deal with AT&T Inc. under its belt.

Intucell, based in Ra'anana, Israel, produces self-optimization network (SON) technology to improve 4G network performance. SON technology performs multiple tasks, such as automatically detecting when a site is down and routing users to the next-best cell, or enabling cells to share bandwidth when network capacity is limited.

Intucell has been working with AT&T on SON since April 2011. The operator announced in February 2012 that it would deploy the optimization techniques on its network during the year ahead.

John Donovan, senior EVP of AT&T technology and network operations, said of Intucell's technology in February 2012 that it had shown "as much as a 10 percent improvement in call retainability, 10 percent improvement in throughput speeds and 15 percent reduction in overloading."

Light Reading identified Intucell as a possible Cisco M&A target in Oct. 2012.

Why this matters
The Intucell buyout, which is expected to close in Cisco's third financial quarter of 2013, will allow the vendor to get its hooks deeper into AT&T wireless operations, to which it already supplies 3G femtocells.

The deal also gives Cisco complementary technology that is well suited to automatically manage small-cell networks, which are going to present network operators with new challenges as thousands of new radios come online.

For more

  • Rumor: Cisco Seeks Small-Cells Smarts

    • AT&T's No. 1 SON

    • Self-Organizing Networks & LTE

      — Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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