Ericsson has complete its acquisition of Vonage Holdings Corp., a deal that will help expand the company’s growth in mobile and enterprise networks.
The deal will provide Ericsson with access to building blocks for a full suite of communications solutions such as Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS).
Using CPaaS, Ericsson’s goal is to transform the way 5G networks are exposed, consumed and paid for including by the developer community where Vonage has more than one million registered developers. This will give these engineers access to 4G and 5G network capabilities via open application program interfaces (APIs).
The deal will also give new opportunities to communications service providers (CSPs) with location and quality of service APIs that will help to expand and monetize 5G network capabilities. The existing market for communication APIs such as video, voice and SMS is growing at a 30% annual rate and projected to reach about $22 billion by 2025.
To accelerate UCaaS and CCaaS growth, Ericsson plans to increase R&D investments and offer these solutions to CSPs allowing customers to sell through their own brands and accelerate growth. Ericsson also said it will complement existing communications to small and medium sized companies with Vonage’s UCaaS and CCaaS solutions.
“We are already seeing great progress with frontrunner CSPs, and we aim to launch the first 5G network APIs in the coming year,” said Börje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson. “We will continue to create new, enhanced applications and services for enterprises, while driving continued innovation on Vonage’s UCaaS and CCaaS applications, helping businesses create new digital experiences for better communications, connections and engagement.”
