In what could be seen as a strong statement of intent for the business and government fixed line, fibre and wireless markets, Vodafone has acquired an Irish IP network operator Interfusion Networks, for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition of Interfusion Networks Ltd. reinforces Vodafone Ireland’s position as a total communications provider for businesses and public sector organisations, including the provision of IP-VPN-based services.
IP networks facilitate the convergence of voice and data, allowing Vodafone to provide managed IP networks to business customers, further enabling a secure, scalable and managed data network.
Vodafone Ireland will now market and sell a combined offering of innovative IP networking, IP voice, data applications and unified communications services to Irish businesses. This complements its existing suite of fixed, mobile and convergent solutions.
Vodafone Ireland enterprise director, Anne O’Leary, said that in acquiring IP-VPN capability, Vodafone Ireland can confidently enable business customers to better manage their current complex data telecommunications requirements and drive efficiency.
Vodafone’s IP and UC strategic vision
“The acquisition of Interfusion Networks Ltd. is an extremely good strategic fit for Vodafone Ireland,” O’Leary, who spearheaded Vodafone’s move into the fixed-line market, explained.
“This is a further significant investment by Vodafone in developing a complete total communications service to our business customers. We are extremely pleased to now have a suite of IP-based services available to our customers as part of our product portfolio.
“Vodafone Ireland has already established itself as the leading provider of communications solutions to businesses of all sizes. We are confident that the acquisition of Interfusion Networks Ltd. will further strengthen our communications portfolio to address growing business customer needs. I believe we are now strongly positioned to cater for the rapidly increasing demand from enterprises for efficient, highly scalable network solutions that in turn support bandwidth demanding applications and cloud computing solutions,” she added.
Interfusion Networks Ltd. employs 21 people and has more than 300 customers in Ireland. Vodafone Ireland intends to operate Interfusion Networks Ltd. as a standalone subsidiary company, and it will continue to operate under its existing management structure.
“This will now significantly enhance the development of Interfusion as a company,” Interfusion managing director Steve MacNicholas explained.
“For our customers, it will enable us to accelerate the development of our IP network to include converged voice offerings.
“The emergence of cloud technologies will drive growth for scalable and secure IP network infrastructures. Interfusion’s expertise in this area combined with Vodafone’s strategic vision offers an exciting future for all the team,” MacNicholas added.
