The addition of Aspire to NEC’s portfolio will strengthen its SI offering for Open RAN 5G applications, the company said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Aspire provides solutions and services across the full network lifecycle for legacy and open architecture from 2G to 5G.
Naohisa Matsuda, general manager of NEC’s 5G Strategy and Business said, "NEC has made a strong, public commitment to providing leadership in the rollout of Open RAN.
“Part of that commitment is building out our ability to serve as the prime system integrator for global operators as they adopt Open Networks at their own pace.”
Aspire was founded in 2009 by a group of executives and has provided technology solutions software applications and consulting systems integrations for Tier 1 telcos ever since.
Today, the company works with leading operators and vendors across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The company has been an advocate of Open RAN technology “from the outset” and has built an Open Networks Lab which allows its partners to fast-track development, integration and testing of open networks.
"We believe the combination of NEC and Aspire Technology will provide tremendous benefits to our customers, both legacy network-based and those evolving to the more open environment, and also to the broader 5G and Open RAN marketplace, which is growing rapidly,” added Bill Walsh, founder and CEO of Aspire.
“We share a common vision of the 5G and Open RAN market, and a history of delivering complex integration projects with some of the largest carriers in the world. Together, we create a compelling and comprehensive 5G solutions portfolio."
The acquisition is expected to be completed this month, following the confirmation of necessary procedures and approvals for both companies.
