NEC to Acquire NetCracker, a Leader in Operations Support Systems

Japanese electronics conglomerate NEC Corp yesterday announced having entered in to a definitive agreement to acquire US software developer NetCracker Technology Corp for an undisclosed sum, reported to be in the vicinity of $300 million, to strengthen its global communications  and software portfolio.

NEC says the acquisition would will help it achieve new worlwide growth to reach its target of around 200 billion yen over five years.NetCracker's products, services and domain expertise will be integral to leveraging complementary assets within both companies.

NetCracker designs end-to-end operations support systems (OSS) for communications service providers across the globe.  its customers include France Telecom, MTS, Sprint, TELUS, Telstra, UPC and many other leading communications service providers spanning the globe.

NEC says the OSS market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6 per cent to 7 per cent over the next few years.

The Tokyo-based NEC says the acquisition adds a key element of software and services to its portfolio of mobile and fixed infrastructure products.

''NetCracker has distinguished itself with a record of successful OSS transformations and exceptional software solutions and professional services for leading communications service providers,'' said Kaoru Yano, president of NEC. ''The acquisition of NetCracker strengthens NEC's offerings and brings even greater value to the global communications industry.''

As service providers move to an all-IP environment and become more diversified, the company's expertise becomes an increasingly essential element of their success. Moreover, the ongoing debut of innovative new services, including IPTV, Triple-Play, 3G and others, provide new opportunities for deploying the next generation of OSS.

''NEC and NetCracker share a vision of operations and business support systems being critical to communications service providers, enabling them to build a sustainable competitive advantage,'' said Andrew Feinberg, CEO of NetCracker. ''NEC's scale and solution offering will help us extend our core application and services footprint and continue to broaden the solutions we offer to our global customers.''