About Ceragon Networks

Ceragon Networks Ltd. (Ceragon), a wireless transport specialist company, provides wireless connectivity solutions to global markets across various industries, mainly wireless (mobile) networks service providers. Ceragon's technology related to the transition from Wireless SDH to Wireless IP, and the further transition to compact multi-core all-outdoor wireless backhaul solutions, assisted in positioning it as a leader in the global wireless transport market. The company expects that it would have potentially positioned it to benefit from new wireless generation transitions, such as the 5G evolution. In preparation for the transition from 4G to 5G technologies, the company has begun planning the roll-out of new 5G-supporting products. In 2019, the company introduced the market-first 'disaggregated wireless transport' architecture, which allows operators to significantly simplify 5G network deployment and maintenance. The company is investing in a new chipset which incorporates multi-cores in a chipset to be incorporated in products expected to be introduced in 2024. The company provides wireless transport solutions and services that enable cellular operators, other service providers and private networks to build new networks and evolve networks towards 4G and 5G services. The services provided over these networks include voice, mobile and fixed broadband, multimedia, Industrial/Machine-to-Machine (M2M), Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, public safety and other mission critical services. The company also provides its solutions for wireless transport to other vertical markets, such as Internet service providers, public safety, utilities, oil and gas offshore drilling platforms, as well as maritime communications. The company's wireless transport solutions use microwave and millimeter-wave radio technologies to transfer large amounts of telecommunication traffic between wireless 5G, 4G, 3G and other cellular base station technologies (distributed, or centralized with dispersed remote radio heads) and the core of the service provider's network. The company is also a member of industry consortiums of companies, which attempt to better define future technologies in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) markets, such as Open Networking Foundation (ONF), Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Telecom Infra Project (TIP), and others. To enable delivery of turn-key solutions to the company's customers, in addition to providing roll-out services, it has partnered with other third-party providers of technologies complementary to its own. The company's offering includes technologies, such as Unlicensed Point-to-Point, Private Long-Term Evolution (LTE), Licensed/unlicensed Point-to-Multipoint, Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol label Switching (IP/MPLS) SW and/or white boxes and others. The company's services include powerful project management tools, such as its 'InSide Software' tool that streamline deployments of complex wireless networks. The company's solutions support all wireless access technologies, including 5G-NR NSA, 5G-NR SALTE, HSPA, EV-DO, CDMA, W-CDMA, WIFI and GSM, as well as Tetra, P.25 and LMR for critical communications. Solutions The company offers a broad product portfolio of wireless transport solutions, which incorporate its unique multicore technology. Its multicore technology is a key element in its differentiation within the wireless hauling market, serving the 'best-of-breed' market segment. The company's multicore technology consists of a high order of digital signal carriers embedded in modems having multiple baseband cores, designed for microwave and millimeter-wave communications, and RF (radio frequency) integrated circuits (RFIC), which support the entire available microwave and millimeter-wave spectrum. The company integrates its multicore technology systems-on-chip into sub-systems and complete wireless hauling solutions for its customers. The company provides its customers with future solutions already built-in to their Ceragon-installed base. The company's solutions support multiple technologies within the same wireless transport equipment, providing its customers with high flexibility in network transition from legacy connectivity to 4G and 5G connectivity and architectures. The company maintains strategic partnerships with third party solution vendors and network integrators. Through these relationships the company develops interoperable ecosystems, enabling operators and private networks to profitably evolve networks by using complementary transport alternatives. In some cases, it has entered into a strategic alliance with a multinational technology company that nevertheless, choose the company's technology for its future products, acknowledging that it proposes the 'best-of-breed' cutting edge technology. Products The company's portfolio of products utilizes microwave and millimeter-wave radio technologies that provide its customers with a wireless connectivity that adapts to weather conditions and optimizes range and efficiency for a given frequency channel bandwidth. Its products are typically sold as a complete system consisted of some or all of the four components, such as an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, a compact high-performance antenna and a network management system. The company offers all-packet microwave and millimeter-wave radio links, with optional migration from transport technology (TDM) to Ethernet. Its products include integrated networking functions for both TDM, Ethernet and Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol label Switching (IP/MPLS). The company offers its products in four configurations: all-outdoor, split-mount, all-indoor, and disaggregated hauling. All-outdoor solutions combine the functionality of both the indoor and outdoor units in a single, compact device. This weather-proof enclosure is fastened to an antenna, eliminating the need for rack space or sheltering, as well as the need for air conditioning. Split-mount solutions consist of indoor units, which are used to process and manage information transmitted to and from the outdoor unit, aggregate multiple transmission signals and provide a physical interface to wire-line networks; and outdoor units or radio frequency units (RFU), which are used to control power transmission, and provide an interface between antennas and indoor units. They are contained in compact weather-proof enclosures fastened to antennas. Indoor units are connected to outdoor units by standard coaxial or Cat-5 baseband cables. All-indoor solutions refer to solutions in which the entire system (indoor unit and RFU) reside in a single rack inside a transmission equipment room. A waveguide connection transports the radio signals to the antenna mounted on a tower. All indoor equipment is typically used in long-haul applications. Disaggregated wireless hauling solutions offer a single radio suitable for all-outdoor, a split-mount scenario, and a networking unit, which provides versatile and scalable hardware options based on merchant routing silicon and also provides routing capabilities (L3) that are radio technologies aware. Pointing accuracy solutions for high movement environments. These are advanced microwave radio systems for use on moving rigs/vessels where the antenna is stabilized in one or two axes, azimuth or azimuth/elevation. Antennas are used to transmit and receive microwave radio signals from one side of the wireless link to the other. These devices are mounted on poles typically placed on rooftops, towers, or buildings. The company relies on third party vendors to supply this component. End-to-End Network Management: The company's network management system uses standard management protocol to monitor and control managed devices at both the element and network level and can be integrated into its customers' existing network management systems. The IP-20 Platform provides a wide range of solutions for any configuration requirement and diverse networking scenarios. Composed of high-density multi-technology nodes and integrated radio units of multiple radio technologies ranging from 4GHz and up to 86GHz, it offers ultra-high capacity of multiple Gbps with flexibility in accommodating for every site providing high performance terminals for all-indoor, split-mount, and all-outdoor configurations. The IP-20 platform supports carrier-ethernet services and is Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 2.0 certified. The IP-50 Platform provides disaggregated wireless hauling using a single type of radio in microwave or millimeter-wave for all configuration and installation scenarios and IP/MPLS and segment routing capabilities over merchant silicon hardware options. The company's multicore technology covers all network scenarios and site configurations wherever all-outdoor, split-mount, or all-indoor. Various multicore radio units can be used with IP-20N/ IP-20A, IP-20F or IP-50FX products, such as RFU-D and the RFU-D-HP, or IP-50C and IP-50E in the disaggregated solution (i.e. can be used as a stand-alone, all-outdoor radio or in a split-mount configuration, connected to the IP-50FX). As part of the IP-50FX Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG), the company introduced a Radio Aware Open Networking (RAON) Software, designed to increase operational efficiency, simplify radio monitoring and management, and expect in the future to release a reduced energy consumption. In addition to the IP-20 and the IP-50 Platforms, the company provides the PointLink portfolio that offers a tailored solution for oil and gas and other maritime offshore applications. The company's network management system (NMS) can be used to monitor network element status, provide statistical and inventory reports, download software and configuration to elements in the network, and provide end-to-end service management across the network. Its NMS solutions support all its microwave and millimeter-wave products through a single user interface. Software Defined Network (SDN) Solution The company offers its customers a wide variety of SDN supporting products and tools: SDN Controller: The company's SDN Master is a complete controller supporting SDN protocols that can monitor and control its products in an SDN environment. The SDN Master can work as a 'standalone' controller, or as part of an SDN solution managed by a higher level SDN controller offered by a third-party vendor (sometimes referred to as an SDN Orchestrator), allowing full flexibility to its customers. SDN Support in Wireless Hauling Products: All company's IP-20 and IP-50 products support the needed SDN protocols allowing the operator to manage these products with Ceragon SDN controllers but also with third part SDN controllers, again, allowing full flexibility to its customers. SDN Applications: Software (SW) tools with significant impact on the company's customers total cost of ownership (TCO), network availability, and fast network rollout. These applications enable operators to increase their network efficiency and effectiveness with operational optimization and automatization capabilities. With the SDN technology, Ceragon SW solutions are entering into the cloud domain allowing multiple open and flexible deployment scenarios for its customers. IP-100 Platform: The company is investing in a new chipset, which incorporates multi-cores in a chipset expected to be available beginning 2024. It is designing the first IP-100 products using that chipset that will significantly increase its wireless transport products capabilities in terms of higher capacity, lower latency, lower physical size and power consumption and more. These capabilities makes the IP-100 platform the optimize choice for existing and new use cases in the 5G mobile market. The IP-100 platform will expand the company's products coverage beyond the MW bands, V-Band and E-Band range (4-86 GHz) and includes W-band (up to 110 GHz) and D-band (up to 170 GHz) products. Services The company offers complete solutions and services for the design and implementation of telecommunication networks, as well as the expansion or integration of existing ones. The company has a global projects and services group that operates alongside its products groups. Under this group, the company offers its customers a comprehensive set of turn-key services, including advanced network and radio planning, site survey, solutions development, installation, network auditing and optimization, maintenance, training and more. Its services include the utilization of project management tools to streamline the deployments of complex wireless networks. The company supports its products with documentation and training courses tailored to its customers' varied needs. It has the capability to remotely monitor the in-network performance of its products and to diagnose and address problems that may arise. The company helps its customers to integrate its network management system into their existing internal network operations control centers. In the pursuit of the company's new strategy to diversify and expend its offering to include, among other things, WISPs (wireless internet services), private networks, software based solutions and disaggregated cell-site routing, the company is developing and enhancing those and other SW tools that have been used by it for networks planning, commissioning, monitoring, optimization and maintenance, to be included in its services offering as a stand-alone SW solutions and services either as on-premise, remote or SaaS. Customers The company has sold its products, directly and through a variety of channels, to over 600 service providers and more than 1,600 private network customers in more than approximately 130 countries. Its principal customers are wireless service providers that use its products to expand transport network capacity and support the provision of advanced telecommunications services. The company also sells systems to large enterprises and public institutions that operate their own private communications networks through system integrators, resellers, and distributors. In 2022, customers from the Europe region contributed 14% of total yearly revenue. The company's sales in Latin America and Africa in 2022 were 18% and 7% of yearly revenue, respectively. Its sales in the Asia Pacific (excluding India), North America and India in 2022 were 11%, 23% and 27%, respectively. Sales and Marketing The company sells its products through a variety of channels, including direct sales, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), resellers, distributors, and system integrators. Its sales and marketing staff, including services and supporting functions, who work together with local agents, distributors, and OEMs to expand its business. The company also plans to develop additional strategic relationships with equipment vendors, global and local system integrators, distributors, resellers, networking companies and other industry suppliers. The company's key marketing activities include planning and executing marketing campaigns and developing content, as well as communications material to promote its products, solutions and services to customers and prospects over the entire course of the sales-cycle. Activities include advertising, e-mail, press releases, newsletters, marketing collateral (white papers, e-books, brochures, case studies, etc.), blogs, promotional videos and more. It also engages in organizing and running exhibitions, seminars, and events. The company has developed remote marketing tools, such as webinars, live-demos, remote seminars and enhanced the use of digital tools and remote marketing activities. Research and Development For the year ended December 31, 2022, the company's research and development expenses included $29.7 million. Intellectual Property As of December 31, 2022, the company had 19 patents granted in the United States and other foreign jurisdictions, including the EPO (European Patent Office) and 8 patent applications pending in the United States and other foreign jurisdictions, including the EPO. The company has registered trademarks as follows: For the standard character mark Ceragon Networks in Canada; For the standard character mark CERAGON, national registrations in Morocco, Malaysia, Indonesia (under the name of Ceragon Networks AS), Japan, Israel, Mexico, the United States, South Africa, the Philippines, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Canada, Nigeria, Brazil and Colombia, the United Kingdom and India; and International Registration (protection granted in Australia, Iceland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Korea, Switzerland, Croatia, Norway, Russia, China, Ukraine, CTM (European Union), Turkey, Singapore, Macedonia, Egypt, Kenya, and Vietnam); For the company's design mark for FibeAir in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the European Union; For the standard character mark FibeAir in the United States; and For the standard character mark CeraView in Israel, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Regulation The company complies with standards promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization and has received certification under the ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System), and ISO 45001 (Health and Safety) standards. The company's activities in Europe require that it complies with European Union Directives with respect to product quality assurance standards and environmental standards, including the RoHS (Restrictions of Hazardous Substances) Directive. Competition The company's primary competitors include large wireless equipment manufacturers referred to as generalists, such as Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; L.M. Ericsson Telephone Company; NEC Corporation; Nokia Corporation; and ZTE Corporation. In addition to these primary competitors, a number of other smaller wireless transport equipment suppliers, including Aviat Networks Inc.; SIAE Microelectronica S.p.A; and Intracom Telecom, offer and develop products that compete with the company's products. History The company was founded in 1996. It was incorporated under the laws of the state of Israel in 1996 as Giganet Ltd. and changed its name to Ceragon Networks Ltd. in 2000.