CommScope

Last updated

CommScope Holding Company, Inc.
Company type Public
Industry Telecommunications
Founded1976;48 years ago (1976)
FounderFrank M. Drendel
Headquarters Hickory, North Carolina, U.S.
Key people
Brands
  • KRONE
  • AMP NetConnect
  • SYSTIMAX
  • Uniprise
  • ERA
  • HELIAX
  • ONECELL
  • SURFboard
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$9.23 billion (2022)
Decrease2.svgUS$−714 million (2022)
Decrease2.svgUS$−1.35 billion (2022)
Total assets Decrease2.svgUS$11.69 billion (2022)
Total equity Decrease2.svgUS$−1.55 billion (2022)
Number of employees
30,000+ (December 2022)
Subsidiaries
Website CommScope.com
Footnotes /references
[1] [2] [3]

CommScope Holding Company, Inc. is an American network infrastructure provider based in Hickory, North Carolina. CommScope employs over 30,000 employees. [4] [5] [6] The company joined the Nasdaq stock exchange on October 25, 2013. [7]

Contents

CommScope designs and manufactures network infrastructure products. It has the following business segments: broadband networks, venue and campus Networks, and outdoor wireless networks. [8] [9]

History

CommScope was originally a product line of Superior Continental Cable, which was founded in 1953 in Hickory, North Carolina. [10] In 1961, Superior created a division called Comm/Scope, which developed CATV systems and sold a coaxial cable named CommScope. In 1967, Superior was acquired by Continental Telephone Company, with CommScope becoming a division of Continental. [10] In 1975, Frank Drendel headed a team charged with selling the product line. Drendel and Jearld Leonhardt founded CommScope in August 1976 after raising $5.1 million to purchase the CommScope product line. [11] Two years later, CommScope and Valtech merged under the Valtech name. [10] In 1979 Valtech donated fiber optics line and equipment to link the U.S. House of Representatives to the C-SPAN studios, enabling live broadcasting of U.S. Congressional proceedings for the first time. [10]

In the 1980s, Valtech sold to M/A-COM. and CommScope became part of the Cable Home Group for M/A-COM. In 1983, CommScope formed the Network Cable division for the local area network, data communications, television-receive only, and specialized wire markets. In 1986 M/A-COM, sold the Cable Home Group to General Instrument Corporation, and CommScope became a division of General Instrument. [10]

In 1997, General Instrument split into three independent, publicly traded companies, with its cable operation spun off as CommScope. At the time, CommScope had annual revenues of $560 million and was the largest provider of coaxial cable to cable TV operators. [12] [13]

In 2000, CommScope opened its new global headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina. [10] In 2004, CommScope acquired Avaya's Connectivity Solutions cabling unit and inherited the SYSTIMAX brand, a company perhaps best known for its enterprise cabling systems. [14] [15] Avaya's Carrier Solutions, which offered products designed for switching and transmission applications in telephone central offices and secure environmental enclosures, also became part of CommScope. [14] This acquisition doubled CommScope's size. [15] In 2007, CommScope acquired the global wireless infrastructure provider Andrew Corporation, which would help CommScope meet demand from mobile phone companies. [16]

In 2008, CommScope was chosen to provide the Dallas Cowboys with the connectivity for their new stadium starting with the 2009 NFL season, using over 5 million feet of copper and fiber-optic cabling. [17]

In 2011, The Carlyle Group acquired CommScope. [18] This acquisition made CommScope privately owned by The Carlyle Group and removed it from the New York Stock Exchange. [19] Eddie Edwards was appointed president and chief executive officer, succeeding Frank Drendel, who had served as CommScope's CEO since the company's founding in 1976. Drendel continued as the chairman of the board. [19]

On October 25, 2013, CommScope had its initial public offering on the NASDAQ, being listed as COMM. [7]

In February 2016, it was announced that the Daytona International Speedway had a new wiring infrastructure from CommScope. [20] In June 2016, CommScope was signed by the Carolina Panthers to upgrade the wireless and wired communications at the team's Bank of America Stadium. [21]

In November 2016, the Carlyle Group announced the sale of its remaining shares of CommScope. [18]

In 2019, for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a 55 kilometer bridge-tunnel system, CommScope supplied over 110 multiband antennas supporting 2G, 3G, and 4G network bands. [22]

On October 1, 2020, CommScope announced that Charles Treadway would succeed Eddie Edwards as the company's new president and CEO. The company also announced that Bud Watts would replace Frank Drendel as chairman, with Drendel being named chairman emeritus. [23]

On March 2, 2021, CommScope appointed company veteran Praveen Jonnala as chief information officer (CIO). Jonnala replaced Karen Renner, CommScope's senior vice president and CIO, who left the company in November. Jonnala was previously global vice president of digital transformation and business solutions. [24]

On April 8, 2021, CommScope announced its plan to spin-off its home networks business, [25] However this was delayed due to supply chain constraints and the plan remains in suspense for the foreseeable future. [26]

CommScope's systems were breached by the hacker group Vice Society as part of a ransomware attack in March 2023. [27] In April, the group published stolen data, which included proprietary documents and sensitive information of its employees. [28] [29]

In October 2023, CommScope sold its home networks division to Vantiva for a 25% stake in Vantiva. [30] [31]

Acquisitions

In 2004, the company acquired Avaya's connectivity business, including the legacy intellectual property and patents from Western Electric, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and Avaya.

In June 2007, CommScope acquired Andrew Corporation for $2.6 billion. Andrew's products included antennas, cables, amplifiers, repeaters, transceivers, as well as software and training for the broadband and cellular industries. [32]

In 2015, CommScope acquired TE Connectivity's Broadband Network Solutions (BNS) division. [33] Later in 2015 CommScope acquired Airvana, a privately held company specializing in small cell solutions for wireless networks. [34]

On April 4, 2019, CommScope completed the acquisition of Arris International, a telecommunications equipment manufacturing company and owner of Ruckus Networks. Both Arris and Ruckus were made brands of CommScope. [18] [4]

In October 2020, CommScope acquired the patent portfolio for virtual radio access networks (vRAN) from Phluido, a company specializing in RAN virtualization and disaggregation. [35]

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References

  1. ↑ "CommScope Holding". Fortune . Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  2. ↑ "CommScope Management Team". CommScope Holding Company, Inc. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ "CommScope 2022 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". SEC.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 23, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Frankel, Daniel (April 4, 2019). "CommScope Closes $7.4B Arris Purchase". Next TV. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ Baumgartner, Jeff (April 27, 2020). "Layoffs hit CommScope's Home Networks unit". Light Reading. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ "US SEC: Form 10-K CommScope Holding Company, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . Archived from the original on April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Alden, William (October 25, 2013). "CommScope, Backed by Carlyle, Has a Rocky Debut". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ "CommScope to Realign Into 4 Biz Segments in 2020". Light Reading. December 5, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ Hill, Kelly (December 9, 2019). "After Arris acquisition, CommScope realigns business segments". RCR. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "CommScope, Inc". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ CommScope (August 3, 2016), CommScope History Video , retrieved June 19, 2017[ dead YouTube link ]
  12. ↑ Landler, Mark (January 8, 1997). "General Instrument to Split Into 3 Public Companies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  13. ↑ Schiesel, Seth (January 26, 1997). "Gauging General Instrument's Planned Breakup". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. 1 2 "CommScope completes Avaya ACS acquisition". Cabling Installation. February 4, 2004. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  15. 1 2 McBride, Yolanda (October 27, 2003). "CommScope to Buy Avaya Unit". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  16. ↑ "CommScope to Buy Andrew Corporation". The New York Times. June 28, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Cabling Cowboys Stadium: A five-star facility, Texas style". Cabling Installation. September 1, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  18. 1 2 3 Chin, Kimberly (November 8, 2018). "Carlyle Group to Reinvest in CommScope to Help Fund Acquisition". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Spangler, Todd (January 14, 2011). "CommScope Names Edwards CEO". Next TV. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  20. ↑ Kapustka, Paul (February 20, 2016). "Wi-Fi for concourses, suites makes its debut at Daytona 500". Mobile Sports Report. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  21. ↑ Elkins, Ken (June 7, 2016). "CommScope helps boost digital network at Bank of America Stadium". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  22. ↑ Tan, Aaron (May 21, 2019). "Keeping commuters connected on the world's longest sea crossing". Computer Weekly. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  23. ↑ Narcisi, Gina (October 1, 2020). "CommScope Announces Leadership Shakeup, Charles Treadway As New CEO". CRN. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  24. ↑ "CommScope Names Digital Transformation Leader Praveen Jonnala as CIO: Exclusive". March 2, 2021.
  25. ↑ "CommScope Announces Plan to Spin-Off its Home Networks Business into". CommScope. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  26. ↑ "CommScope can't rid itself of struggling Home Networks unit". lightreading. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  27. ↑ Griffin, Kevin (April 25, 2023). "Hickory fiber optic company suffered ransomware attack in March". Hickory Daily Record. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  28. ↑ Page, Carly; Whittaker, Zack (April 17, 2023). "Hackers publish sensitive employee data stolen during CommScope ransomware attack". TechCrunch .
  29. ↑ Whittaker, Carly Page and Zack (April 17, 2023). "Hackers publish sensitive employee data stolen during CommScope ransomware attack". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  30. ↑ "CommScope Announces Plans to Sell Home Networks Business to Vantiva". Yahoo Finance. October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  31. ↑ "France's Vantiva to buy CommScope's Home Networks". Reuters. October 3, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  32. ↑ "CommScope to Acquire Andrew for $2.6 Billion". CommScope. June 27, 2007. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  33. ↑ Buckley, Sean (November 10, 2015). "CommScope says BNS acquisition will strengthen its FTTX opportunity". Fierce Telecom.
  34. ↑ "CommScope to acquire small cell vendor Airvana". Telecomlead. September 8, 2015.
  35. ↑ "CommScope acquires Phluido's vRAN patent portfolio". October 20, 2020.
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