Cisco to buy mobile specialist Starent for $2.9 billion

From CNET News.com: Cisco Systems plans to buy Starent Networks for about $2.9 billion as it sharpens its focus on mobile networks.

Under a deal announced Tuesday, Cisco will pay $35 per share in cash and assume outstanding equity awards for Tewksbury, Mass.-based Starent. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2010.

Starent's products are designed to help service providers scale their mobile infrastructure and to manage access from 2.5G, 3G, and 4G radio networks to their packet core network. Its technology is deployed in CDMA2000 (1X, EV-DO), UMTS/HSPA, and WiMax networks.

Smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and other mobile devices are putting increased demands on Internet access. Cisco said that mobile data traffic worldwide is expected to more than double every year through 2013.

"Combining Cisco's strength in video and IP with Starent Networks' leading mobile infrastructure solutions creates a compelling portfolio of products that provides an integrated architecture to offer rich, quality multimedia experiences to mobile subscribers on 3G and 4G networks," Starent CEO Ashraf Dahod said in a statement.

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