 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1981; 44 years ago (1981) |
| Founder | Ian S. Ferguson |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 11 (2019) |
Key people |
|
| Products | Virtualized software for service providers, network protocol stacks for equipment manufacturers |
Number of employees | 700 ±50 (2011)  |
| Parent | Alianza (2025-present) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4] | |
Metaswitch Networks (formerlyData Connection Ltd) is a private UK-based company that was acquired by Microsoft in July 2020. Metaswitch Networks designed, developed, manufactured, and marketedtelecommunications software to communication service providers, equipment manufacturers, and large enterprises.
Metaswitch (then Data Connection) was founded in 1981 by seven formerIBM employees led by Ian Ferguson, who remained on the board of directors until the company's acquisition by Microsoft.[2][3][5][6] The company's earliest business areas included IBMSystems Network Architecture (SNA) and retail point of sale systems. In the 1990s, the company began developing network protocol software.[2]
In 2000, the company launched the Metaswitch brand, which providedsoftswitches and network management systems designed to enable telephone service providers to migrate toVoice over IP (VoIP) networks while still supporting legacy telephone technologies.[2] By 2008, the Metaswitch division was responsible for 78% of the company's revenue.[7]
In April 2009, the company announced intentions to consolidate all of its products and business operations under the Metaswitch brand, with two business units: the Carrier Systems Division and Network Protocol Division.[8] In October 2009, the company rebranded itself as Metaswitch Networks, to reflect the growing focus on the products and services that it sells to telephone service providers.[9]
In August 2011, the company formally changed its name from Data Connection Ltd to Metaswitch Networks Ltd.[10]
In July 2014, the company moved some of its software toopen-source with the launch of Project Calico.[11] Project Calico was subsequently spun out into an independent startup,Tigera, Inc., with Andy Randall (formerly the general manager of Metaswitch’s Networking Business Unit) as CEO.[12]
In May 2020,Microsoft announced a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch Networks.[13][14] On 15 July 2020, the acquisition was completed.[14][15]
In June 2024, Microsoft made major cuts to its Azure for Operators business, which then included most of Metaswitch.[16]
In December 2024, Alianza announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Metaswitch from Microsoft.[17] On 04 March 2025, the acquisition was completed.[18]
In March 2010, the firm acquired AppTrigger Inc, a provider of service broker software inRichardson, Texas.[19] In April 2011, it acquired Colibria AS, a provider ofRich Communication Suite (RCS) software in Oslo, Norway.[20] In February 2017, Metaswitch acquired OpenCloud Ltd, a provider of an open mobile services platform.[21]
In 1987, Metaswitch established the Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) to hold shares of the company on behalf of the employees, which enabled company-wideprofit sharing.[22][23]
In January 2008Francisco Partners, aprivate equity firm, andSequoia Capital, aventure capitalist firm, invested an undisclosed sum in Metaswitch.[24][25]
The company is privately held by top-tier investment firms Francisco Partners and Sequoia Capital, as well as the Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), which distributes a share of profit to all employees…
