Cisco to acquire London-based broadband network monitoring firm SamKnows

Cisco will acquire London-based privately-held broadband network monitoring company SamKnows to strengthen the capabilities of its network intelligence firm ThousandEyes, Jonathan Davidson, EVP and General Manager of Cisco Networking, said in a blog post.

SamKnows’ technology is used by leading telecom operators and broadband providers, including Telstra, Google Fiber, BT, Verizon Communications Inc., Virgin Media O2, as well as by UK’s telecoms regulator Ofcom, and more, according to the information on the company’s website.

It is the second acquisition announcement by Cisco within a week. Last week, the US-based telecom gear maker said it is acquiring Accedian, a network performance monitoring firm. The acquisition is expected to complete in the first quarter of FY24.

Davidson said ThousandEyes has hundreds of thousands of vantage points across the Internet, in enterprise environments, and on user devices.

“With the addition of SamKnows’ millions of vantage points into the last mile, customers now have a single source of truth for how the Internet is performing across their entire infrastructure, including home and mobile device networks,” he said.

Mohit Lad, CEO and Co-Founder of ThousandEyes in a separate blog said that hybrid working has exponentially increased the role of broadband networks, adding that companies are increasingly dependent on networks to connect customers and employees to applications and services.

“Ensuring end-to-end connectivity from home environments is now essential for enterprises supporting remote employees, application providers reaching users, and broadband providers maintaining customer satisfaction,” Lad said.

Lad said SamKnows offers vast visibility and rich insights into consumer broadband networks, that will enable network operators to improve network performance and application experience for their customers.

“Cisco’s acquisition of SamKnows will expand ThousandEyes’ visibility of broadband networks and last-mile performance through SamKnows’s fleet of millions of vantage points on home routers and mobile devices connected to Internet service providers around the globe,” the ThousandEyes chief executive said.

He added that the acquisition of SamKnows will extend ThousandEyes’ end-to-end network assurance to more broadband service providers, enabling them to isolate and troubleshoot issues faster.

Cisco’s acquisition of SamKnows is also expected to happen in the first quarter of FY24. Cisco and SamKnows, however, did not disclose financial details of the acquisition deal.