Ericsson is acquiring Chinese OSS/BSS IT services provider Sunrise Technology as part of plans to improve its ability to address Chinese mobile operators' IT transformation demands.
Ericsson said it plans to use the acquisition to strengthen its telecom OSS/BSS portfolio, by integrating Sunrise's telecom business with its Global Services subsidiary.
Sunrise will also continue to operate as a separate entity to serve customers in sectors other than telecom.
Sunrise has around 1,000 employees with expertise in IT consulting, systems integration for charging and billing systems, CRM/business intelligence/analytics solutions and application development and maintenance. The employees will join Ericsson by the second quarter.
For Ericsson, the deal is the latest in a string of M&As aimed at bolstering the vendor's OSS/BSS presence. It follows the acquisition of Telcordia in 2012, TeleOSS and Telcocell in 2013, GEOSS in 2014 and TimelessMIND earlier this year.
"China is the world's biggest mobile market in terms of number of subscriptions, with 1.285 billion,” Ericssson head of Global Services Magnus Mandersson said.
“Most of the country's telecom operators are at the beginning of their IT transformation journeys... “The acquisition of Sunrise Technology's telecom business will boost our ability to serve mobile operators' IT transformation needs in China, and is aligned with our strategy of becoming a global ICT leader.”