Corning, maker of the Gorilla Glass used in many smartphones, acquired enterprise small cell specialist SpiderCloud Wireless, believing the latter’s “position as a preferred provider to key wireless customers creates unique market access opportunities”.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

SpiderCloud will become part of the Corning Optical Communications unit, and aligns with the businesses’ strategy of growing annual sales from $3 billion in 2016 to $5 billion in 2020 through innovation and acquisitions, Corning said.

Corning Optical Communications’ EVP, Clark S Kinlin, said: “Wireless connectivity has become more a necessity than an amenity, and operators and enterprise customers are seeking cost-effective solutions to enhance service for their users inside buildings.”

He believes the combination of products which will be delivered by the deal “will help drive optical convergence and enable the advantages of fibre-deep architectures within the Enterprise Local Area Network.”

SpiderCloud Wireless develops small cell network platforms which it states deliver “unprecedented coverage and capacity” for wireless services inside buildings. It raised around $125 million in VC funding and secured a number of high-profile deals with operators including Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. Most recently it made a major push into the unlicensed LTE space.

Meanwhile Corning describes itself as an innovator in materials science, with expertise in speciality glass, ceramics, and optical physics.

On its website, it states: “Corning succeeds through sustained investment in research and development” and describes the Optical Communications unit as “a comprehensive provider of industry-leading optical solutions across the broader communications industry.”

Its other units include Display Technology and Life Sciences.

The announcement of the acquisition comes in the same week Cisco Systems confirmed it is discontinuing its licensed Universal Small Cell (USC) 8000 Series enterprise radio products. The move to stop selling its in-house, licensed-spectrum, small cells effectively reduces the business to an earlier reseller partnership with SpiderCloud.