Comlinkdata, which provides global customer analytics for the communications industry, has acquired Opensignal, a provider of mobile analytics. Berkshire Partners is the majority owner and Silversmith Capital Partners is a minority investor in the newly combined organization, which will maintain central offices in Boston, MA; London, U.K.; and Victoria, Canada, as well as offices in Asia and other locations worldwide. Financial details of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the month, were not disclosed.
Begun in 2010, Opensignal standardized the process of creating wireless coverage maps by using crowdsourced signal data from their users to measure carrier coverage. Also founded in 2010, Comlinkdata has a mission of providing timely market data to telecom companies so they can make data-driven decisions.
“By adding Opensignal’s complementary mobile experience measurement capabilities to Comlinkdata’s existing portfolio of market analysis and network performance solutions, the company will be able to deliver unparalleled value to clients globally,” Dave Isenberg, CEO of Comlinkdata, said. “Competitive and customer insights that link network experience and market activity will empower executives to focus strategic investments, while optimizing customer experience and marketing return on investment.”
The Opensignal acquisition builds on Comlinkdata’s acquisition of Tutela in 2019, an independent crowdsourced data company with more than 300 million smartphone users. Bringing together the two mobile network experience measurement companies allows Comlinkdata to serve clients in more than 60 countries.
Comlinkdata plans to use the resulting customer analytics to create new ways for its customers to apply competitive insights, informing the strategic decisions needed to improve and grow their businesses across mobile, broadband, and enterprise, as well as emerging sectors, such as connected cars.
“This acquisition is a major step forward in our efforts to create the must-have data and analytics platform that communications brands need to thrive and grow in an increasingly competitive market disrupted by 5G, fiber and gigabit internet,” Isenberg said. “The addition of Opensignal’s acclaimed mobile network experience analytics and world-class team to the Comlinkdata portfolio will speed development of new solutions for customers in the mobile, broadband, and enterprise sectors.”
Enea Openwave, which advises mobile operators on subscriber quality of experience, has hopes the acquisitions of Opensignal and Tutela will lead to the development of a singular approach to benchmarking operators in the mobile industry, according to Roland Steiner, Senior Vice President for Telecoms, Enea Openwave.
“Operators have struggled to navigate the different measurement metrics because the parameters used by these providers differ from one another,” Steiner said. “Recently, benchmarking companies introduced new performance parameters for 5G and many operators are not even aware of them. Factors like different ways of measuring latency, video experience and cloud gaming experience now all take center stage as applications and usage patterns evolve and become more sophisticated.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
Reader Interactions