Broadband wireless solutions developer Airspan Networks this week announced its acquisition of Israeli voice over IP network infrastructure equipment provider AreINet. Per the terms of the $8.7 million deal, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Airspan acquires all outstanding shares of AreINet in exchange for $4 million in cash and $4.7 in Airspan common stock.

AreINet's product portfolio includes softswitches and gateways supporting all major VoIP standards, and its installed network equipment capacity exceeds two billion minutes per year. Airspan said it anticipates leveraging AreINet's switching and gateway technologies to develop carrier-grade solutions for wireless VoIP services supporting the 802.16 WiMAX standard.

"We strongly believe that voice services will be a significant part of the overall WiMAX business case for operators, and by making this acquisition we will be able to offer the strongest voice-enabled product portfolio in the industry," said Eric Stonestrom, Airspan's president and CEO, in a statement.

Airspan has so far deployed network equipment with a capacity exceeding 1 million lines in more than 95 countries. Earlier this month, the company announced a $12 million contract win to deploy its proprietary AS.MAX base stations and customer premises equipment in Japan.