Siemens to buy Redstone
Siemens boosts its data networking technology and expertise with $500 million purchase.
By Joe McGarvey, Inter@ctive Week
March 18, 1999 7:17 AM PT
Continuing to amass data networking technology and expertise at an accelerated rate, Siemens today announced plans to purchase privately held Redstone Communications, a data networking start-up that makes access equipment for carriers based on Internet Protocol.
A spokesperson for Redstone said the deal was worth approximately $500 million.
R E A D
Siemens To Address Next-Gen Nets
Siemens begins data networking push
The purchase of Redstone is the latest in a flurry of acquisitions by the German telecommunications giant. Earlier this month, Siemens shelled out close to a billion dollars to acquire Argon Networks and Castle Networks and grab an equity stake in Accelerated Networks. All of those companies, similar to Redstone, make high-speed data products that are designed to ease the convergence of data and voice networks into a common infrastructure.
Today's acquisition is also consistent with those previous purchases - like Redstone, Argon and Castle are located in the Boston area. Redstone will be folded, along with Argon and Castle, into Unisphere Solutions, the U.S.-based data networking company that Siemens launched earlier this month. Unisphere, too, is located in the Boston area.
Popular port
Surrounded by universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Boston is turning out to be a popular U.S. port for European telecommunications companies looking to simultaneously expand their presence in the data networking field and penetrate the lucrative U.S. market. Ericsson, the Swedish mobile communications giant, also recently established a data center in Boston.
Redstone's Edge Switch router, which is designed to enable telecommunications providers to transition from a circuit-based infrastructure to services based on Internet Protocol, is expected to ship later this month, according to Siemens officials.
Redstone's President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dolce will become a member of Unisphere's executive management team, reporting directly to Unisphere's President and Chief Executive Officer Martin C. Clague
Looks as if Siemens is assembling all of these pieces together in an interesting mosaic that logically has to raise the stature and importance of FNTN within the mix as a content provider and multimedia showcase for Siemens in the US and potentially Globally.
Rgds
Wiz
|
