Microsoft buys Affirmed Networks to bolster 5G cloud services

Redmond headquartered Microsoft has acquired virtualised mobile network solutions provider Affirmed Networks to boost its 5G cloud services.

Microsoft announced the deal in a blog post. However, financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. 

However, the technology giant valued Affirmed Networks at $1.35 billion, business news website Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

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Anand Krishnamurthy, CEO of Acton, Massachusetts-based Affirmed Networks, also confirmed the development.

“Upon the close of this transaction, Affirmed Networks, the company that we built from the ground-up to become an industry-transforming leader in virtualisation and 5G, will become part of Microsoft,” he said.

Interestingly, Krishnamurthy took up the CEO post on March 25, a day before this deal was announced. 

“As we’ve seen with other technology transformations, we believe that software can play an important role to help advance 5G and deliver new network solutions that offer step-change advancements in speed, cost and security,” Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president, Azure Networking for Microsoft, said in a blogpost.

The acquisition will help Microsoft evolve its work in the telecommunications industry, building on its cloud platform for operators, he added.

Affirmed Networks was set up in 2010 by Hassan Ahmed, Stephan Noll, Terry Durand and Timothy Mortsolf. The company last raised $38 million in February in a round led by Centerview Capital, according to Crunchbase. It has raised a total of $155 million in over six rounds so far, it added. 

The company has over 100 carriers as its customers, including Vodafone, AT&T and SoftBank.

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“We have created a model for mobile networks of the future that is open, cloud-native and capable of being web-scale, all at 70% of the cost of traditional networks. We have been their partner of choice as they prepare for fifth generation (5G) networks and infrastructure. Now, the combined technologies of Microsoft and Affirmed will further accelerate this momentous shift,” Krishnamurthy said.