Verizon Communications Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire BlueJeans for an amount less than $500 million

United States: Verizon Communications Inc. has finalized a deal to buy videoconferencing company, BlueJeans Network Inc., for less than $ 500 million. However, the exact deal amount has not been disclosed by the company. The deal holds significance at a time, when due to COVID-19 epidemic, millions of people around the world are working from home. BlueJeans has witnessed rapid surge in its usage and userbase owing to the coronavirus containment measures being exercised around the world.

BlueJeans Network Inc. is a rival of Zoom Video Communications. In order to contain coronavirus spread, businesses across the globe are creating a virtual environment, which has led to a huge demand for video-conferencing apps such as Zoom, Cisco's Webex and Microsoft's Teams. By finalizing this deal, Verizon aims to compete against Microsoft, Google, and Zoom in remote work applications area. Under this deal, BlueJeans platform will be integrated into Verizon’s 5G roadmap product. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020 and after this BlueJeans employees will work as employees of Verizon.

CEO of Verizon Business said, “As the way we work continues to change, it is absolutely critical for businesses and public sector customers to have access to a comprehensive suite of offerings that are enterprise ready, secure, frictionless and that integrate with existing tools.”

“Collaboration and communications have become top of the agenda for businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in recent months,” he added.

BlueJeans CEO said, ““The combination of BlueJeans’ world class enterprise video collaboration platform and trusted brand with Verizon Business’ next generation edge computing innovation will deliver highly differentiated and compelling solutions to our joint customers.”

According to TechSci Research, after the closure of this deal, BlueJeans will be integrated into 5G network, assisting Verizon Communications in providing secure and real-time engagement solutions in areas such as telemedicine, distance learning and field service work. BlueJeans’ rival Zoom has been facing continuous security issues, which has provided an opportunity for Verizon to rise in video conferencing business. Like Zoom, BlueJeans witnessed a surge in users sharply over the past month due to the outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe.

According to recently published report by TechSci Research,  “Global 5G Infrastructure Market, By Communication Infrastructure (Small Cell, Macro Cell, Radio Access Network (RAN) and Distributed Antenna System (DAS)), By Core Network Technology (Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) and Fog Computing (FC)), By Application (Healthcare, Automotive, and Others), By Company and By Geography, Forecast & Opportunities, 2014-2024”, global 5G infrastructure market is expected to reach USD 33.14 billion by 2024, by exhibiting a CAGR of over 50% during the forecast period. Major factors driving the growth of the 5G infrastructure market include growing demand for high speed & large network coverage, growing adoption of IoT and big data analysis, growing demand for connected vehicles & devices across the globe and increasing investments by the governments. Furthermore, 5G is a key enabler for Internet of Things (IoT) by offering a platform to connect several devices to the internet.

According to TechSci Research report, “Global Enterprise Video Market, By Type (Webcasting, etc.), By Deployment Mode (Cloud, Hybrid, and On-Premises), By Application (Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration, etc.), By Vertical, By Company and By Geography, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024”, in any organization, communicating with employees becomes quite an essential chore for increasing its efficiency. Coordination between the global center and a regional center plays an extremely vigorous role when a company is witnessing growth. Here, enterprise video system helps the employees to communicate with each other. Global enterprise video market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20%, in value terms, over the next five years, on account of rising technological advancements and growing size of organizations and corporate communications. Additionally, increasing use of cloud based services is expected to open new growth opportunities for the enterprise video market over the next five years.