Altiostar

Altiostar
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryWireless Software
Founded2011
FounderAshraf Dahod
OwnerRakuten
Websitewww.altiostar.com

Altiostar is a company that provides open virtual radio access network (vRAN) technology.[1] The company is headquartered just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with offices in Japan, Italy, the U.K., Mexico and India.[2] The company is a subsidiary of Rakuten.[3] Founded in 2011 by President and CEO, Ashraf Dahod,[4] Altiostar is focused on open, virtual RAN software that they claim can integrate operation of equipment from multiple vendors.[5]

History

Altiostar was started by the founders of Starent Networks, a startup bought by Cisco in 2009.[6] Altiostar came out of stealth mode in late 2014 after raising $70 million in funding starting in 2012.[7] The company's initial offering was a virtualized Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) solution that connected radios with controllers with Ethernet, instead of dark fiber.[8] In 2015, the company introduced a virtual radio access network (vRAN) product.[9] In 2017, Altiostar released an Open vRAN Development Platform, allowing independent radio equipment manufacturers to develop a vRAN solution utilizing Altiostar technology.[10] Since its debut, the company has raised $357.5 million from Cisco, Rakuten Mobile, Qualcomm Ventures, Telefonica and Tech Mahindra among others.[11]

Rakuten

In 2019, Rakuten Mobile invested in Altiostar.[12] In 2020, Rakuten commercially launched its 4G network in Japan, using Altiostar as a software contributor for its 4G RAN, with plans to also use the software for its 5G network.[13] In August 2021, Rakuten acquired Altiostar.[14]


Partners

Altiostar has collaborated with a wide variety of partners to enable 4G and 5G network transformation through its open vRAN solution, including:

2011 – Cisco[15]

2015 – Texas Instruments,[16] Qwilt [17] and Wind River[18]

2016 – TIM[19]

2017 – Corning and Dali Wireless[20] and SK Telecom[21]

2018 – Amdocs,[22] Deutsche Telekom,[23] GCI,[24] Sercomm,[25] Telefónica and Vodafone[26]

2019 – Qualcomm,[27] Rakuten,[28] Telecom Infra Project (TIP) [29] and Ubicquia[30]

2020 – Airspan,[31] Bharti Airtel,[32] NEC Corporation (NEC)[33] and World Wide Technology[34]

Awards

2015 – Fierce Innovation Awards (Telecom Edition) - Next-Gen Deployment for NFV C-RAN Solution[35]

2016 – GLOTEL Global Telecoms Awards “Highly Recommended” for Innovative Use of Spectrum[36]

2017 – GSMA GLOMO Award - Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough and Outstanding Overall Mobile Technology – The CTO's choice for vRAN Solution[37]

2019 – GSMA 100[38]

2019 – Intel Network Builders Winners’ Circle 2019-2020 Leaders Board[39]

References

  1. ^ "Cisco, Altiostar, WWT team for Open vRAN blueprint". Light Reading.
  2. ^ "Altiostar: Open RAN, virtualization 'not pie in the sky'". FierceWireless.
  3. ^ "Rakuten Group to Acquire Mobile Industry Innovator Altiostar". Altiostar.
  4. ^ "Altiostar CEO: Open RAN Will Dominate in 3 Years". SDxCentral.
  5. ^ "ATelefónica building partner ecosystem for 4G, 5G Open RAN solutions". RCR Wireless. 24 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Altiostar: Open RAN, virtualization 'not pie in the sky'". FierceWireless.
  7. ^ "One of Boston's Best-Funded Companies Just Came out of Stealth Mode". American Inno.
  8. ^ "Altiostar's C-RAN Steps Into the Light, Junks Dark Fiber". Light Reading.
  9. ^ "Altiostar Intros vRAN". Light Reading.
  10. ^ "Altiostar Unveils Open vRAN Development Platform". The Fast Mode.
  11. ^ "Altiostar CEO: Open RAN Will Dominate in 3 Years". SDxCentral.
  12. ^ "Rakuten invests in Altiostar as part of virtualized network drive". TelecomLead.com. 12 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Rakuten's 5G network will be built with containers". FierceWireless.
  14. ^ "Rakuten Group to Acquire Mobile Industry Innovator Altiostar". Altiostar. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023.
  15. ^ "Cisco's early bet on RAN virtualization propels Altiostar". FierceWireless.
  16. ^ "Altiostar and Texas Instruments Collaborate to Bring the Most Advanced LTE eNodeB Solution to the Market". Yahoo Finance. 2 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Qwilt, Altiostar Form Go to Market Partnership with Open Caching & NFV Cloud RAN Technologies". The Fast Mode.
  18. ^ "Altiostar & Wind River Develop NFV C-RAN". Light Reading.
  19. ^ "TIM and Altiostar extend ambitious vRAN plans in Italy". Rethink Technology Research.
  20. ^ "DAS vendors look to VRAN to enable the enterprise". RCR Wireless News.
  21. ^ "Altiostar, SK complete vRAN field trial, partner on SDRAN". Telecompaper.
  22. ^ "Altiostar, Amdocs & Wind River Collaborate on End-to-End vRAN Solution: New Services, New Customers, New Revenue". Light Reading.
  23. ^ "Deutsche Telekom partners with Crown Castle, Altiostar on 3.5 GHz test bed". Wireless Business Group.
  24. ^ "SDxCentral's Weekly Roundup — February 23, 2018". SDxCentral.
  25. ^ "Sercomm, Altiostar launch virtualised small cells". Telecompaper.
  26. ^ "Vodafone and Telefónica Will Trial TIP's OpenRAN Platforms". SDxCentral.
  27. ^ "Altiostar to Demonstrate Disruptive Open, Virtualized 4G & 5G RAN Solutions at Mobile World Congress 2019". Markets Insider.
  28. ^ "Rakuten invests in US vRAN vendor Altiostar ahead of mobile launch". RCR Wireless. 13 February 2019.
  29. ^ "TIP Project Group Feature: OpenRAN". Telecom Infra Project. 19 February 2019.
  30. ^ "Ubicquia & Altiostar Expand Partnership to Accelerate Rural Broadband". Broadband World News.
  31. ^ "Airspan, Altiostar package lessons from Rakuten". FierceWireless.
  32. ^ "India's Bharti Airtel Deploys Altiostar's Open vRAN Solution". The Fast Mode.
  33. ^ "NEC, Altiostar to Jointly Work on 4G/5G Open vRAN Business Development". The Fast Mode.
  34. ^ "Cisco, Altiostar and WWT team on open vRAN". FierceWireless.
  35. ^ "Fierce Innovation Awards 2015" (PDF). Fierce Markets.
  36. ^ "Glotel Global Telecom Awards 2016". Telecoms.com.
  37. ^ "GSMA Congratulates Winners of the 2017 Global Mobile Awards". GSMA.
  38. ^ "GSMA Welcomes New Telco Cloud Companies to the 'GSMA 100'". Telecom TV.
  39. ^ "Intel Network Builders Winners' Circle". Intel.