Ericsson acquires Ambient for smart grid tech

Swedish network vendor Ericsson has announced the completed acquisition of Ambient Corporation, which provides smart grid technology to the utilities sector. The announcement comes as part of a wider move by Ericsson to further enable the development of smart grid infrastructure.

Ambient provides integrated applications and technology to the utilities sector, and enables and supports smart metering, automation, visibility and control of smart grid technology over IP-based communications infrastructure.  As the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution continues, the focus on smart grids and the “Internet of Energy” grows further as utilities companies strive to reduce operational cost and efficiency of service delivery.

Smart grid technologies further enable the connected home by utilising ICT to give consumers the ability to control utilities usage and cost, while simultaneously improving network reliability and facilitating self-healing properties and automated network maintenance.

The acquisition will see Ambient integrate into Ericsson’s Global Services organisation, and Ericsson sees the acquisition as a prime opportunity to further extend their service catalogue to the utilities sector.

“We’re helping utilities to adopt new types of applications and enable new business models, and I believe Ambient could make a big contribution to that effort,” says Magnus Mandersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Ericsson’s Business Unit Global Services.

The news of Ericsson’s completed acquisition comes after Ambient filed for bankruptcy in July, and has been actively seeking a buyer for the past 2 months. According to the Wall Street Journal, the acquisition cost Ericsson a relatively modest $7.5 million. With the wider IoT industry gaining a lot more traction over the past 12 months, Ericsson’s move could prove to be a shrewd addition to their portfolio.