4 minute read
New opportunities for 5G revenue in the enterprise market
Ericsson acquires Cradlepoint, market leader for Wireless WAN Edge 4G and 5G edge solutions
Cradlepoint, the US-based market leader in Wireless WAN (WWAN) Edge 4G and 5G solutions for the enterprise market, has joined the Ericsson family. This combination will enable regional carriers to support 5G-enabled services for enterprise, unlocking new revenue streams and accelerating return on 5G investments.
The growth trajectory of the WWAN serviceable market continues to gain momentum. Key growth drivers include the uptake of 5G, massive growth and proliferation of IoT use cases, expansion of cloud applications, and increased enterprise wireless connectivity penetration.
25-30% growth in the WWAN serviceable market projected between 2020-2024
With access to the combined strengths of Ericsson and Cradlepoint in 5G, IoT and WWAN Edge solutions, regional carriers will now have new ways to harness the growth of this burgeoning market. Åsa Tamsons, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Technologies & New Businesses at Ericsson, said, “With Cradlepoint’s market-leading solutions, we are strengthening our enterprise offering and taking an important step to lead the next wave of enterprise network transformation. Together, we will power solutions to the customer edge that help improve productivity and deliver realtime services, enabling us to drive faster adoption of 5G in enterprise segments. This is good news for our customers as it helps them accelerate returns on 5G investments.”
What does Cradlepoint do?
Cradlepoint’s subscription-based WWAN Edge solutions combine cloud, softwaredefined networking, multi-layer security and 4G and 5G cellular technologies to connect people, places and things, anywhere.
Cradlepoint provides services that extend the reach of the enterprise by making it simple to connect remote devices back into the network. The company offers the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of 4G and 5G Wireless Edge Solutions for fixed and temporary site networks, mobile and in-vehicle networks, and IoT and connected device networks.
Operating as a standalone subsidiary within Ericsson, Cradlepoint will continue to build on the current market momentum as 5G accelerates digital transformation and increases the need for advanced connectivity services for enterprises.
New enterprise business opportunities for carriers
Regional carriers now have a wide range of scenarios in which to leverage Cradlepoint to extend reach into businesses as they pursue new revenue streams. “Carriers want a simple connectivity solution that just works,” said Bill Chotiner, VP and CTO of Regional Carriers Customer Unit at Ericsson. “Cradlepoint is that solution. It’s an excellent tool for regional carriers who want to move further into the business space and pursue opportunities they couldn’t access before.”
Here are a few of the new options that Cradlepoint brings into play for our customers:
Primary connectivity
Small businesses such as banks, restaurants, retail, and so on can use Cradlepoint to provide a secure, nonstop WAN Edge that connects everything, wherever they transact with customers. Public safety institutions such as law enforcement and hospitals can do the same wherever they serve people.
Day-one connectivity
New businesses under construction need reliable network access to ensure that they’re ready for business on opening day. They need this access during the days or weeks that they wait for installation of permanent wired lines. Cradlepoint makes it possible for these businesses to use LTE as the primary WAN to provide immediate, reliable connectivity.
Pop-up connectivity
Organizers of events or pop-up businesses at locations where permanent wired lines aren’t established need temporary connectivity that is secure, easy to deploy, and easy to monitor and manager remotely. In these scenarios, Cradlepoint unlocks LTE and 5G connectivity to provide an instant network in any location.
Mobile connectivity
Connect back to the network from devices within cars, public transportation, ambulances, military transport, etc. as they repeatedly change locations. Use Cradlepoint to securely connect back to the network through LTE or 5G.
Connectivity for remote workers
Helping employees work from home is more important than ever. Many companies don’t want their employees to rely on the wired consumer router in the home for enterprise network access. This is especially important when other family members also connect to the wired router with competing bandwidth-heavy tasks. Cradlepoint services and wireless edge routers provide centralized control of WAN and LAN connectivity, cybersecurity measures and application management from the enterprise network to help companies efficiently manage remote worker access from anywhere.
Failover connectivity
In some scenarios (such as businesses running transactions during peak promotion events where they could lose their transactions), even a brief lapse in connectivity can be disastrous. Cradlepoint services make it possible to provide the assurance of unwavering backup connectivity through LTE and 5G in these mission-critical scenarios.
Remotely reset connectivity
When devices in difficult-to-reach locations such as rural areas lose connectivity, being able to reset their connectivity without the need to travel to them in person can save time and resources. Cradlepoint provides the ability to manage and reset these devices remotely.
IoT connectivity
Cradlepoint hardware and software make it possible to connect multiple smart devices in an area (for example, all the cash registers and vending machines in a corporate cafeteria) back into a central network, making connectivity seamless from the perspective of the end user.
We are excited to welcome Cradlepoint to the Ericsson family. Together, we look forward to helping our customers pursue new enterprise business opportunities.
