Microsoft to Acquire Affirmed Networks to Boost Cloud-Based 5G Solutions

Microsoft has announced its intention to acquire network function virtualization provider Affirmed Networks, according to an official Microsoft blog post. The acquisition will help Microsoft boost its cloud-based 5G network solutions via Microsoft Azure. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The announcement of the acquisition comes just a day after Affirmed named Anand Krishnamurthy as its President and CEO.

In his official blog post on the announcement, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Azure Networking Yousef Khalidi wrote: “Previous generations of wireless networks have been based on purpose-built hardware. We believe that with innovation in software and by making use of broadly available cloud computing platforms like Microsoft Azure, operators can deploy and maintain 5G networks and services more efficiently, more cost effectively, more rapidly and more securely.”

This is the latest in a series of steps Microsoft has taken to increase its foothold in the 5G space. In July 2019, Microsoft announced a partnership with AT&T to bring the vendor’s 5G solutions to Microsoft Azure. Affirmed Networks has delivered several 5G solutions to the cloud before; in October 2019, the vendor delivered a UnityCloud 5G Core solution on AWS.

Khalidi continues: “We look forward to building on the great work by Affirmed Networks with its leadership in virtualized mobile networks. Bringing this technology and team of experts into Microsoft allows us to extend our cloud offering to operators everywhere as they increasingly look to run their networks in a hybrid environment. We’re excited about our future together where carriers will be able to better leverage Microsoft’s cloud to improve overall profitability and create new revenue streams.”

Learn more about the Microsoft-Affirmed acquisition here.