Sonus attacks home markets

Sonus Networks has said it has acquired GSM softswitch vendor Zynetix. Sonus will pay around $13 million for Zynetix with the acquisition expected to close in April 2007.
Zynetix works with femto and pico cellular players like ip.access to extend softswitch IP functionality to the edge of the network, instead of merely in the IP core.
Sonus, which has worked with Zynetix as a partner previously, hopes the acquisition will allow it to position itself as an end to end provider of IMS based services, especially VoIP.
Hassan Ahmed, chairman and CEO, Sonus Networks, said, “By integrating Zynetix’s solutions into Sonus’ proven wireless portfolio, Sonus will accelerate the industry’s migration to IP-Voice communications. Zynetix provides Sonus with a new and unique technology solution to expand its presence in the high-growth wireless market.”
Andy Odgers, managing director of Zynetix, will join Sonus as Vice President of Wireless Technology
As well as confirming its acquistion of Zynetix, Sonus  announced  a strategic partnership with Radioframe Networks, a provider of IP-based picocell and femtocell base stations.
The two companies say they are working together to enable broadband-cellular converged solutions to deliver voice services and multimedia applications to mobile handsets by leveraging customer-premise GSM access technologies, such as picocells and femtocells. Which is similar to the reason given for the acquisition of softswitch vendor Zynetix.
“Sonus has been actively engaged in building an ecosystem of world-class vendors that are pioneering the new market for broadband-cellular converged solutions through GSM access technologies,” said Vikram Saksena, chief technology officer, Sonus Networks. “Sonus’ IMS-ready network infrastructure coupled with solutions from companies like RadioFrame Networks opens up a new set of opportunities for wireless network operators that are committed to improving service to their customers while reaping significant operational benefits.”
Finally, Sonus said it would be intergrating its “IMS-ready” wireless solutions wit Apertio’s One-HLR products, slotting another piece in the jigsaw.