Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced it purchased Italian startup Athonet, which offers core networks for private cellular networking operations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

HPE said the transaction is designed to better position the company in the market for private wireless networking services, whether directly to enterprises or to network operators targeting the sector.

Analysts expect serious growth in the space. HPE cited figures from research firm IDC predicting $1.6 billion in revenues from core network sales to enterprises by 2026.

Similarly, ABI Research recently predicted the overall revenue opportunity for private cellular networks to grow from $7 billion in 2023 to more than $96 billion by 2030. However, companies like Verizon have argued that the private wireless networking opportunity isn't growing as fast as expected.

"Telco customers are looking for simpler ways to deploy private 5G networks to meet growing customer expectations at the connected edge," said HPE's Tom Craig in a release. Craig is the general manager of the company's Communications Technology Group.

"With the acquisition of Athonet, HPE now has one of the most complete private 5G and Wi-Fi portfolios for CSP [communication service providers] and enterprise customers," Craig added.

Figure 1: (Source: Michael Vi/Alamy Stock Photo)

HPE boasted that 15-year-old Athonet counts more than 450 successful customer deployments in various industries around the world. It added that Athonet would also strengthen its Aruba-branded portfolio of Wi-Fi offerings by allowing HPE to deliver "fully integrated Wi-Fi and private 5G networks."

HPE said it expects the transaction to close at the beginning of its third quarter.

Other players

HPE isn't the only company chasing the private wireless networking opportunity. Indeed, it's not the only one making news on the topic this week. Among some of the recent advancements in the space:

Related posts:

— Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano