CommScope

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CommScope Holding Company, Inc.
TypePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded1976; 45 years ago (1976)
FounderFrank M. Drendel
Headquarters
Hickory, North Carolina
,
United States
Key people
  • Claudius (Bud) Watts
  • (chairman of the board)
  • Charles (Chuck) Treadway
  • (president and CEO)
BrandsKRONE
AMP NetConnect
SYSTIMAX
Uniprise
ERA
HELIAX
ONECELL
Surfboard
Ruckus
Arris
RevenueIncrease US$8.435 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2020)[1]
Increase -US$51.8 Million (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2020)[1]
Increase -US$573.4 Million (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2020)[1]
Total assetsDecrease US$13.576 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2020)[1]
Total equityDecrease US$355.0 Million (Fiscal Year Ended 31 December 2020)[1]
Number of employees
30,000 (2019)
WebsiteCommScope.com
Footnotes / references
[2][3][4][5]

CommScope Inc. is an American global network infrastructure provider company based in Hickory, North Carolina. CommScope employs over 30,000 employees worldwide,[6][7] with customers in over 130 countries.[4] The company joined the NASDAQ stock exchange on October 25, 2013.[8]

CommScope designs and manufactures a variety of network infrastructure products. It has four business segments: Home Networks, Broadband Networks, Venue and Campus Networks, and Outdoor Wireless Networks.[9][10]

History[]

CommScope was originally a product line of Superior Continental Cable, which was founded in 1953 in Hickory, North Carolina.[11] 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.[11] 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.[12] Two years later, CommScope and Valtech merged under the Valtech name.[11] 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.[11]

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.[11]

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.[13][14]

In 2000, CommScope opened its new global headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina.[11] 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.[15][16] 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.[15] This acquisition doubled CommScope's size.[16] In 2007, CommScope acquired the global wireless infrastructure provider Andrew Corporation, which would help CommScope meet demand from mobile phone companies.[17]

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 SYSTIMAX copper and fiber-optic cabling.[18]

In 2011, The Carlyle Group acquired CommScope.[19] This acquisition made CommScope privately owned by The Carlyle Group and removed it from the New York Stock Exchange.[20] 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.[20]

On October 25, 2013, CommScope had its initial public offering on the NASDAQ, being listed as COMM.[8]

In February 2016, it was announced that the Daytona International Speedway had a new wiring infrastructure from CommScope.[21] 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.[22]

In November 2016, the Carlyle Group announced the sale of its remaining shares of CommScope.[19]

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.[23]

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.[19][6]

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.[24]

In October 2020, CommScope acquired the patent portfolio for virtual radio access networks (vRAN) from Phluido, a company specializing in RAN virtualization and disaggregation. [25]

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. [26]

On April 8, 2021, CommScope announced its plan to spin-off its Home Networks business.[27]

Acquisitions[]

In 2004, the company acquired Avaya's Connectivity Solutions business. The Avaya business acquisition included 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.[28]

In 2015, CommScope acquired TE Connectivity's Broadband Network Solutions (BNS) division.[29] Later in 2015 CommScope acquired Airvana, a privately held company specializing in small cell solutions for wireless networks.[30]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "CommScope Holding Company, Inc. 2020 Annual Report". CommScope. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ "CommScope Holding". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  3. ^ "CommScope Management Team". CommScope Holding Company, Inc. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "US SEC: Form 10-K CommScope Holding Company, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "COMM Financials". Nasdaq. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Frankel, Daniel (4 April 2019). "CommScope Closes $7.4B Arris Purchase". Next TV. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. ^ Baumgartner, Jeff (27 April 2020). "Layoffs hit CommScope's Home Networks unit". Light Reading. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Alden, William (25 October 2013). "CommScope, Backed by Carlyle, Has a Rocky Debut". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ^ "CommScope to Realign Into 4 Biz Segments in 2020". Light Reading. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  10. ^ Hill, Kelly (9 December 2019). "After Arris acquisition, CommScope realigns business segments". RCR. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "CommScope, Inc". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  12. ^ CommScope (2016-08-03), CommScope History Video, retrieved 2017-06-19
  13. ^ Landler, Mark (8 January 1997). "General Instrument to Split Into 3 Public Companies". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  14. ^ Schiesel, Seth (26 January 1997). "Gauging General Instrument's Planned Breakup". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "CommScope completes Avaya ACS acquisition". Cabling Installation. 4 February 2004. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b McBride, Yolanda (27 October 2003). "CommScope to Buy Avaya Unit". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ^ "CommScope to Buy Andrew Corporation". The New York Times. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  18. ^ "Cabling Cowboys Stadium: A five-star facility, Texas style". Cabling Installation. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c Chin, Kimberly (8 November 2018). "Carlyle Group to Reinvest in CommScope to Help Fund Acquisition". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b Spangler, Todd (14 January 2011). "CommScope Names Edwards CEO". Next TV. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  21. ^ Kapustka, Paul (20 February 2016). "Wi-Fi for concourses, suites makes its debut at Daytona 500". Mobile Sports Report. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  22. ^ Elkins, Ken (7 June 2016). "CommScope helps boost digital network at Bank of America Stadium". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  23. ^ Tan, Aaron (21 May 2019). "Keeping commuters connected on the world's longest sea crossing". Computer Weekly. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  24. ^ Narcisi, Gina (1 October 2020). "CommScope Announces Leadership Shakeup, Charles Treadway As New CEO". CRN. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  25. ^ https://www.rcrwireless.com/20201020/network-infrastructure/commscope-acquires-phluidos-vran-patent-portfolio
  26. ^ https://www.crn.com/news/networking/commscope-names-digital-transformation-leader-praveen-jonnala-as-cio-exclusive
  27. ^ "CommScope Announces Plan to Spin-Off its Home Networks Business into". CommScope. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  28. ^ "CommScope to Acquire Andrew for $2.6 Billion". CommScope. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  29. ^ Buckley, Sean (10 November 2015). "CommScope says BNS acquisition will strengthen its FTTX opportunity". Fierce Telecom.
  30. ^ "CommScope to acquire small cell vendor Airvana". Telecomlead. 8 September 2015.

External links[]

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