DUBLIN: Huawei, the Chinese technology group, has made its first acquisition in Ireland with the purchase of a Dublin-based telecoms network management business from developer Amartus.
Huawei has agreed to buy the Amartus software and team that specialises in software-defined networking, a means of controlling telecoms virtually and reducing the need for engineers to physically work with the equipment.
The Irish group will split into two after restructuring, allowing Amartus’s Ireland-based senior team and product staff to join Huawei in the country. The Chinese group said the deal showed Huawei’s commitment to expanding its research and development investment across Europe. Huawei would not disclose the value of the acquisition.
Network equipment providers such as Huawei are increasingly shifting their business away from simply supplying the physical wires and cabinets — which has become a commoditised business given the high level of competition — and into higher margin software and services.
The technology acquired from Amartus makes it much easier and less costly to make changes to the network as it can be done remotely using the software rather than by physically adjusting the telecoms equipment.
The acquisition of Amartus’s software and technology will enable Huawei to accelerate its own work in cloud-based network management, which will be crucial to the future of telecoms networks.
Michael Kearns, chief executive of Amartus, said: “We [will] bring this innovative technology to Huawei at a time when the telecoms industry is experiencing unprecedented change, driven by software.”
Huawei has made relatively few acquisitions during its rapid growth to become one of the world’s largest providers of telecoms equipment, and has instead mainly focused on growing internally through heavy investment in its own research and development.
In the UK the company has made only two small acquisitions to fill in gaps and add important technology and expertise to its portfolio. Three years ago Huawei acquired the Ipswich-based Centre for Integrated Photonics, which conducts research, design, development, manufacture and testing of photonic devices. Last year it bought Cambridge-based Neul, which provides chip set, platform, base-station and cloud management systems.
Huawei said its latest acquisition would “improve its competitiveness in SDN solutions and services by introducing fast business innovation and multi-vendor capability”.
Zha Jun, president of Huawei’s fixed network product line, said the acquisition, “will help deliver our commitment to produce and develop innovative and high quality cloud and network services”.
