HPE completes acquisition of private 5G leader Athonet
Tom Craig, General Manager, Communication Technology Group, HPE
Addition bolsters HPE’s position in wireless connectivity, enabling telcos to unlock new revenue streams and helping enterprises accelerate private cellular deployments
I am thrilled to announce that as of June 15, HPE has completed its acquisition of Athonet, a leading private cellular networking specialist. This acquisition signifies a major leap forward for HPE in our mission to revolutionize the private networking market, in part through simplifying and accelerating the deployment of private 5G.
I fundamentally believe that the true value of 5G lies with enterprises rather than consumers. The billions of dollars spent on acquiring spectrum and deploying 5G networks will not be covered by consumer customers, instead the opportunity lies with enterprise use cases. Private 5G is by far the most exciting enterprise use case for 5G, offering high levels of coverage, reliability and mobility that augments the cost-effective, high-capacity connectivity provided by Wi-Fi. In our view, bringing private 5G and Wi-Fi together is the future of enterprise connectivity.
With its robust track record of more than 450 deployments across diverse sectors including healthcare, transport and logistics, utilities, and government, Athonet strengthens our leadership in the blossoming private cellular market. Athonet’s robust and innovative solutions have earned the company high regard and trust among enterprises, analysts, vendors and telcos alike. In the months since we announced our intention to acquire Athonet, HPE customers have expressed a great deal of excitement over the prospect of adopting Athonet’s award-winning technology.
Now adding Athonet, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, to our offering immediately primes us for a key position in the fast-growing private cellular market. According to IDC, the private cellular market is expected to be worth over $1.6 billion by 2026 for core networking alone1.
With the integration of Athonet, we will offer a holistic, straightforward approach to deploying the connected edge, helping telcos service this growing market and giving enterprises the confidence to leverage this technology. Our comprehensive private 5G, managed Wi-Fi, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and edge compute portfolios positions us perfectly to empower both telcos and enterprises on their private networking journeys.
My team is ready to hit the ground running taking our new expanded offering to a global market. HPE’s international sales team and global partner network can accelerate Athonet’s private network deployments on a huge scale. For many years, Athonet has been recognized for its industry-leading technology, and now with the global might of HPE behind it, I am excited at the growth opportunities in front of us.
An immediate opportunity I see is with our telco customer base. One of the paramount challenges telcos have faced over the years is generating new revenue from their networks. The monetization of network infrastructure has become increasingly complex as hyperscalers continue to extend their footprint into the telecom space. Telcos need to find ways to create value beyond basic data delivery and unlock new revenue-generating services.
The emergence of private 5G networks presents a remarkable opportunity for telcos, with enterprise customers demanding customized 5G experiences that offer low latency, increased reliability and extended range. I passionately believe that HPE is the partner that telcos need to take advantage of this growing market.
HPE is setting the stage for tremendous growth and innovation in the private networking portfolio by integrating Athonet’s expertise into our existing telco and HPE Aruba Networking enterprise offerings, and leveraging HPE’s global sales and partner ecosystem. This acquisition is a powerful statement of our commitment to extending our leadership in edge-to-cloud solutions.
We’re delighted to welcome Athonet to the HPE family, and look forward to driving digital transformation for our customers from edge-to-cloud.
The future of private networking is here, and we’re ready to lead the way.
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.
This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HPE and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, any statements regarding the expected benefits and costs of the transaction contemplated by this document, including enhanced opportunities for growth, the delivery and timing of customer benefits, and the realization and timing of synergies and other economic benefits; projections of operational or financial performance; any statements concerning the expected development, performance, market share, or competitive performance relating to products or services; any statements regarding current or future macroeconomic or industry trends or events and the impact of those trends and events on HPE and its financial performance; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties, and assumptions include the possibility that expected benefits may not materialize as expected; that the parties are unable to successfully implement integration strategies; and other risks that are described in HPE’s SEC reports, including but not limited to the risks described in HPE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, and that are otherwise described or updated from time to time in Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and in other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. HPE assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.