• Nokia is jettisoning a bunch of businesses that are not key to its new strategy
• One of those is the fixed wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment (CPE) unit
• It is being acquired by San Diego-based vendor Inseego in a stock deal worth about $20m
• Inseego says the deal will roughly double its total revenues by adding product lines that generate about $200m in annual sales

Nokia is selling its fixed wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment (CPE) unit to San Diego-based Inseego in a stock deal worth about $20m – a move that gets one of Nokia’s surplus-to-requirements lines of business off its books while adding about $200m to Inseego’s annual sales, the companies announced on Thursday morning. 

When Nokia unveiled its new strategy in November last year – to allow it to focus on the “infrastructure that powers the AI supercycle” – it placed a number of units that aren’t aligned with that strategy in its ‘Portfolio Businesses’ segment and stuck a for-sale sign on them: One was Enterprise Campus Edge – a decision that ultimately forced Nokia to declare that it wasn’t abandoning the private 5G sector; and another was the FWA CPE unit. 

Now Inseego, which already boasts AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon as customers for its existing FWA product line, is picking up that business in return for 7% of its stock which, when the announcement was made, was worth about $20m. As part of the deal, the two companies will engage in “joint go-to-market initiatives… in 6G and wireless edge to capture the opportunities in AI and to further advance the FWA business. The collaboration will also explore joint innovation and carrier 5G monetisation opportunities, as well as consumer and enterprise growth opportunities at the wireless edge,” the vendors noted. 

In addition, when the transaction is completed, Nokia will invest $10m in Inseego stock, a move that will take its stake to around 11%. 

For Nokia, the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, is tiny. For Inseego, it’s significant, as the acquisition will “strengthen Inseego’s position as a global wireless broadband leader with a broader portfolio spanning fixed wireless, mobile broadband and cloud-managed connectivity for consumer and business markets, and is expected to approximately double the company’s revenue and give it a global footprint.” 

In return for that 7% equity slice, Inseego is getting Nokia’s entire FWA CPE business, including the Fastmile product line which, according to Inseego, has an annual revenue run rate of about $200m. It will also take on the unit’s employees, who are mainly based in Asia and Europe. 

Inseego says the Nokia portfolio is complementary to its current product portfolio: In particular it adds consumer FWA products that complement its current position in mobile broadband, while broadening the portfolio on the business side across the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) and enterprise sectors, giving it “a stronger platform across mobility, industrial and IoT applications”. In addition, “it will significantly expand Inseego’s carrier relationships across key markets and strengthen our foundation for future growth,” the company noted in comments sent to TelecomTV. 

No matter what size you are, doubling annual sales with one transaction is a big deal. In 2025, Inseego reported revenues of $166.2m but it expects its 2026 revenues to be in the region of $190m and, it seems, believes that the addition of the Nokia FWA CPE portfolio will at least double that number. 

The news gave Inseego’s share price a lift on Thursday morning as it jumped by almost 30% to $19.21. (If it stays at that level, Nokia will get fewer shares for its $10m than it expected…)

Juho Sarvikas, CEO of Inseego (and a former Nokia employee), stated: “This is a transformative step for Inseego. It expands our scale, broadens our portfolio and positions us as a global leader in wireless broadband across consumer and business markets. Just as importantly, it creates strong collaboration opportunities with Nokia at the wireless edge, where AI-driven workloads, cloud connectivity and next-generation networks are increasingly coming together. We are excited to work with Nokia to deliver continuity for both customers and employees today and drive even greater value together going forward.” 

Konstanty Owczarek, chief corporate development officer at Nokia, added: “Inseego is the right strategic partner for this business and for Nokia’s customers. The agreement reflects Nokia’s strategic shift to simplify its operational model and focus its portfolio on the infrastructure that powers the AI supercycle and AI-driven transformation of networks… We believe this positions the business for continued innovation, broader market opportunity and long-term growth.” 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV