EXFO is in the process of acquiring Taiwan-based InOpticals, which specializes in ultra-high-speed test instruments for the laboratory and manufacturing markets with particular strength in 400G/800G transceivers, active and passive components and integrated test systems.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, although EXFO said in a release that it was mostly valued in EXFO shares. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of October.
EXFO will combine InOptical’s solutions with its existing optical test offerings. This is the company’s second optical test-related acquisition in the past few years; it also bought Yenista Optics in the fall of 2017, around the time that it began its takeover of Astellia.
EXFO said that the purchase of InOpticals will expand its addressable market in the global test and measurement space by about $150 million, to more than $1 billion.
“EXFO has intensified its focus on the research, development and manufacturing market as demonstrated by strong growth in this segment in recent years,” said Germain Lamonde, EXFO’s founder and executive chairman. “InOpticals brings to EXFO a remarkable product portfolio that is highly complementary and strategic. This synergistic acquisition will allow EXFO to leverage InOpticals’ innovative test solutions across global sales channels and expand market share.”
In other test news this week:
-With virtual private network use having vastly increased due to remote work during the global pandemic, Viavi Solutions unveiled a new suite of VPN-focused solutions that cover validation, pre-deployment testing, monitoring, assurance and troubleshooting. The Viavi VPN Management System is aimed at medium-to-large businesses.
Viavi’s State of the Network report this year found that VPN oversubscription was among the top challenges related to managing remote user traffic growth.
–RootMetrics released its network benchmarking report for the first half of 2020, testing both 4G and 5G where available. RootMetrics had temporarily suspended its test teams’ work earlier this year due to COVID-19 restrictions and opted to forgo indoor testing for safety reasons once it re-started testing in June. The company’s report is based on more than 2.7 million tests, including more than 200,000 drive-testing miles and more than 3,000 places visited in 125 metropolitan areas across the U.S. RootMetrics broke down its results on a nationwide basis and in each of the 50 states, plus closer analysis in the 125 metro areas. Read the full story here.
–Global Wireless Solutions also put out its annual ranking of the national carriers, based on its OneScore metric that combines benchmark testing with a consumer survey about wireless. “Network infrastructure and technology investments across all carriers appear to be paying off,” GWS concluded, noting that in the consumer survey, 84% of participants reported that their wireless carrier was meeting their communications needs “always” or “most of the time,” even as the global pandemic intensifies consumers’ need for telecommunications services. Read the full story here.
–T-Mobile US detailed new 5G multi-user MIMO testing this week, saying that in one 100-megahertz channel of 2.5 GHz, it connected eight OnePlus 8 5G smartphones to the same 5G radio and resources, and through the use of multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) and beamforming, it pumped more than 700 Mbps through each device: 16 unique streams of data, with each stream capable of hitting more than 350 Mbps, and two streams of data for each device. A close look at the accompanying video of the demonstration shows that they were using Accuver software for analysis. Read the full story and watch the video here.
–Anritsu’s SmartStudio NR MX800070A control software plus the MT8000A Radio Communication Test Station now supports 5G device Evolved Packet System fallback testing for Standalone 5G.
-Wireless device repair and refurbishment company Cooper General is using Rohde & Schwarz’s CMX500 and CMW500 wideband radio communications testers to help fix and refurbish 4G and 5G devices.
-On the heels of a recent survey of test engineers which found that equipment issues are common and have costly impacts to business operations, Keysight Technologies says it is ramping up its technical support services within its customer care service called KeysightCare. It’s a tiered service model, and the “classic” level has been included with most of Keysight’s instruments and software since late 2018. Keysight has now added what it is calling KeysightCare Technical Support, which covers all Keysight instruments at a customer site, regardless of performance level, use model, warranty period or whether it has been discontinued.
In other Keysight news, the test company said that BSE — formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange — will use Keysight’s inline network visibility offerings, including network packet brokers and bypass switches, to monitor and secure its financial trading networks.
-Representatives of Verizon and China Unicom have both joined the Broadband Forum’s board of directors. Mike Talbert of Verizon and Ding Hai of China Unicom were appointed to the board during its most recent quarterly meetings, held virtually. Meanwhile, Broadband Forum President Tom Starr of AT&T retired after having held a board position for 26 years, and was succeeded by Bernd Hesse of Calix.
Broadband Forum noted that at its meeting, several projects related to 5G and the connected home moved forward, and it launched a new Open Broadband project focused on measurement of gigabit broadband speeds.
