F5 buys Diameter pioneer Traffix
US firms adds management of LTE mobile signalling to its broad platform for managing IP quality and delivery
Published: 20 February, 2012
READ MORE: M&A | Infrastructure | LTE
The relatively new and esoteric market for Diameter signal routers (DSRs) has gained profile beyond its size because of several well publicized LTE network outages, caused at least in part by an overload of signalling between smartphones and base stations. Verizon Wireless and other sufferers see DSRs, which handle such traffic more efficiently and flexibly, as one way to guard against such failures in future. No surprise, then, that one of the pioneers of the sector has been snapped up, with F5 Networks acquiring Traffix Systems.
The price paid was not revealed, though press reports in Traffix's native Israel quoted $130m. F5 said it would not have a material effect on operating results. Traffix and Tekelec have been the leading lights of the early DSR space, while F5 specializes in improving applications delivery and traffic management on IP networks. As the mobile market becomes increasingly important to its business, it said it wanted a play in Diameter, the 3GPP standard for handling network signalling in 4G/IP systems.
"Diameter traffic is mission critical for any carrier moving to 4G/LTE and IMS architectures. It enables billing, subscriber management, and interoperability between core IP systems and between carriers themselves," said John Byrne, research director for IDC's wireless service, in the F5 statement. "With the load and complexity of mobile data network traffic growing dramatically, mobile operators require expertise in the data and application plane, in the form of converged IP services, and in the control plane with advanced Diameter routing, load balancing and gateway capabilities."
F5 aims to stand out by offering all these services in one platform, helping to "make the transition from 3G to 4G and IMS much simpler, cost effective, and non-disruptive for carriers," according to Traffix CEO Ben Volkow.
Traffix introduced its Diameter Routing Agent in 2009, followed by last year's launch of the Signaling Delivery Controller (SDC), a single product for Diameter routing, load balancing and gateway connectivity, which can work with 3GPP or 3GPP2 systems. It raised a $7m round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners in November 2011 and is thought to have raised about $13m in total. F5 made $1.15bn in revenues in its last fiscal year and boasts the top 10 largest service providers as customers.
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