Fastback Networks® and Sub10 Systems announced the merger of the two companies to create a single best of breed wireless backhaul company. The combined company is positioned on the leading edge of innovation for the high performance backhaul solutions essential to enable the pervasive deployment of LTE, LTE-A, VoLTE, 4G and 5G mobile networks. The combined entity will address what is forecast to be a $1.6 billion market for sub-6 GHz and millimetre wave solutions ––the fastest growing segments of the mobile backhaul market.
The companies’ intellectual property and technology platforms, each of which have been adopted by Tier 1 mobile operators, will be converged to create the industry’s first hybrid Any Line of Sight (AnyLOS™) backhaul solutions.
Both Fastback and Sub10 were founded with a vision to apply advanced and novel technology to pioneer solutions in sub-6 GHz and millimetre-wave spectrum (60 GHz, 70/80 GHz). In dense urban environments, flexibility in site location and frequency allocation can mean the difference between service and no service or high and low capacity. Merging the companies’ technology platforms to deliver dynamic multiple frequency pairing, together with Line of Sight (LOS) and Non Line of Sight (NLOS) capabilities, dramatically expands the options for mobile network operators, their connectivity partners and enterprise customers.
“Traditional backhaul is a weak link in the LTE/5G chain, hindering wireless service growth, and driving demand for innovation in high performance backhaul solutions,” said Kevin Duffy, CEO & Co-founder, Fastback Networks. “With this merger, we are consolidating best of breed intellectual property, technology, human talent and investor syndicates to address that opportunity and to be a catalyst and enabler for the acceleration of dense LTE/5G deployments.”
“Fastback’s sub 6 GHz and Sub10’s millimetre wave solutions and technology are complementary LOS and NLOS solutions, sharing high performance and low latency characteristics. Our merged company will provide the combination of these solutions that our customers require to enable densification of mobile networks,” said Stuart Broome, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Fastback Networks and former CEO and Co-founder, Sub10 Systems. “Today our combined products are unmatched in meeting the high throughput, low latency, and high reliability requirements of LTE macro and small cell backhaul, as well as critical high performance connectivity applications in private networks.
Going forward, innovations from our combined teams and technology can enable a systems level platform that operates across disparate frequencies providing a single high performance solution suitable to the widest possible range of radio conditions.”
“Small cell deployments have taken some time to take off. One of the remaining challenges is backhaul, and whilst there are solutions available there remains an opportunity for a vendor to take up a disruptive position,” said Richard Webb, senior principal analyst, Mobile Backhaul and Small Cells, Infonetics Research. “The merger of Fastback’s any line of sight technology with Sub10 Systems millimetre-wave portfolio looks like an innovative combination that could give operators a genuine alternative to solutions already on the market.”