What Spirent Communications does

Spirent Communications is a UK-headquartered provider of test and measurement solutions specializing in Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) simulation, 5G and next-generation network testing, and network assurance. Its portfolio centers on the PNT X GNSS constellation simulator (up to 640 channels per chassis, 2 kHz iteration rate) and the Landslide platform for 5G core network and O-RAN testing, supplemented by lab automation (Velocity), network assurance (VisionWorks), user experience monitoring (UMetrix), over-the-air Wi-Fi testing (Octobox), and the field-to-lab GNSS tool SimXTRACT. In February 2026, Spirent launched Luma, an agentic AI solution trained on its proprietary network knowledge base that automates root cause analysis and reduces support ticket resolution from weeks to minutes.

Spirent generates revenue primarily through one-time and subscription licenses for test and measurement hardware and software, complemented by managed services (PNT Testing Services, Fit4Launch certification) and consulting. Solutions are sold via direct enterprise field sales to telecom operators (notably Vodafone for pan-European 5G voice core testing), network equipment manufacturers, automotive OEMs, chipset makers, defense agencies, and Critical National Infrastructure operators in finance, energy, and telecommunications. The company sells globally across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Oceania.

Spirent was acquired by Keysight Technologies in October 2025 for approximately $1.46 billion and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary. As a condition of the acquisition, the U.S. Department of Justice required divestitures, and Viavi Solutions subsequently acquired Spirent's high-speed ethernet, network security, and channel emulation testing business for $425 million. Spirent's retained portfolio now sits alongside Keysight's broader communications test and measurement catalog, with continued brand presence and active product and partnership cadence into 2026.

Name

Spirent Communications

Legal name

Spirent Communications plc

Website

https://spirent.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Spirent Communications, now a Keysight Technologies subsidiary, provides PNT simulation, 5G core and O-RAN network testing, lab automation, and assurance software for telecom operators, NEMs, defense agencies, automotive OEMs, and critical infrastructure operators worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Network Test and Measurement Equipment

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Telecommunications (517)

SIC

Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Testing, Certification & Inspection Tools (Copper/Fiber) (HDAFALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fiber Splicing, Testing & Commissioning (OTDR, Acceptance, Turn-Up) (IMAFAIAB), Mission-Critical & Public Safety Private Networks (MCX/LMR Interop) (HDAIAGAH)

Keywords

• Network test equipment
• GNSS simulation systems
• PNT testing solutions
• 5G core network testing
• Lab automation software

Headquarters

HQ city

Crawley

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Test and Measurement Equipment and Solutions: Spirent generates revenue through the sale of test and measurement hardware and software solutions for PNT, network testing, and assurance. Solutions are sold as perpetual licenses and bundled with support and managed services.
2. Managed Services and Testing-as-a-Service: Spirent offers managed testing services including PNT Testing Services, Fit4Launch certification programs, and strategy and consulting services, providing recurring revenue from service engagements.
3. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Software solutions including Landslide, VisionWorks, Velocity, and Luma AI are licensed to customers, with software platforms supporting perpetual and subscription-based licensing models.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Spirent Communications provides test and measurement solutions for communications networks and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems. Its offerings include PNT/GNSS simulation platforms, 5G core and radio access network testing, lab automation software, network assurance platforms, and over-the-air (OTA) Wi-Fi test systems, sold to telecom operators, network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), defense and critical national infrastructure (CNI) agencies, and automotive OEMs.

Product overview

Spirent Communications, now part of Keysight Technologies, offers a comprehensive portfolio of PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) simulation, network testing, and assurance solutions. The portfolio centers on the PNT X Simulation System for GNSS constellation simulation and the Landslide platform for 5G core network and O-RAN testing. Supporting products include Velocity Core and Velocity iTest for lab automation, VisionWorks for network assurance, UMetrix for user experience monitoring, and specialized testing solutions like Octobox for Wi-Fi OTA testing, the 8100 5G Mobile Device Test Solution, SimXTRACT for GNSS testing, and PNT Xe for GNSS simulation. The portfolio also includes Luma, an agentic AI solution for automated root cause analysis. Managed services include Fit4Launch certification programs and PNT Testing Services. The products form an integrated ecosystem enabling technology validation from lab to live deployment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Landslide: 5G core network testing, O-RAN emulation, and cloud-native function testing platform for mobile networks
• PNT X
• PNT Xe
• Velocity
• VisionWorks
• UMetrix
• Luma
• SimXTRACT
• Octobox
• 8100 Mobile Device Test System
• GSS6450

Products and services

• PNT X Simulation System Flagship PNT/GNSS simulation platform with up to 640 channels per chassis, used to validate positioning, navigation, and timing systems in defense, aerospace, and commercial applications.
• PNT Xe Compact GNSS/GPS simulation platform with up to 256 channels, designed to provide high-fidelity PNT testing at lower cost of ownership.
• Landslide C100-M6 Next-generation 5G core network validation platform delivering up to 100 Gbps throughput, designed for high-density AI/ML traffic, distributed telco cloud, and 6G readiness.
• Landslide O-RAN Emulators O-RAN fronthaul compliance and performance testing solution supporting 7.2x and 14.4x DU configurations for end-to-end RAN Intelligent Controller validation.
• GSS6450 Record and Playback System RF recording and playback system that captures live GNSS signals and replays them in lab environments for repeatable testing.
• Velocity Lab Automation Suite Lab automation portfolio comprising Velocity Core for lab resource management and Velocity iTest for building automated test suites.
• VisionWorks Automated network assurance platform with automated test agents that continuously run network health checks to detect issues, isolate root causes, and improve mean time to repair.
• Octobox Over-the-air (OTA) Wi-Fi testing system with a controlled RF environment for testing the latest Wi-Fi standards including Wi-Fi 7.
• Luma Agentic AI solution that augments Spirent test and measurement platforms by accelerating the creation, execution, and analysis of test workflows.
• 8100 5G Mobile Device Test Solution 5G mobile device conformance and performance testing solution covering protocol, radio frequency, and OTA testing.
• UMetrix Voice and video quality monitoring solution for assessing user experience across service provider networks.
• SimXTRACT GNSS data extraction and analysis tool used to process captured GNSS data for testing and analysis.
• Fit4Launch Managed certification program helping device manufacturers validate and launch new devices on carrier networks.
• PNT Testing Services Managed PNT testing services supporting resilient PNT (R-PNT) assessment for defense and commercial customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% reduction in 5G software upgrade time (from months to days) for Vodafone pan-European networks across nearly 160 nodes
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• European Space Agency (ESA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2026Spirent partnered with ESA to lead a three-year initiative to strengthen PNT resilience for UK Critical National Infrastructure. The initiative delivers the Spirent PNT Alliance, PNT Shopfront, and annual PNT Resiliency Health Check assessments, supported by ESA's NAVISP program. A 2023 UK Government report estimated a 7-day GNSS outage could cost the UK economy £7.6 billion, driving the need for PNT testing frameworks.
• VodafoneflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 December 2025Spirent was selected by Vodafone to automate and streamline integration of new 5G software across Vodafone's pan-European core voice mobile networks. The jointly developed automated testing platform achieved a 75% reduction in time required for software upgrades, decreasing from months to days across nearly 160 nodes supporting cellular voice and voice over Wi-Fi services.
• Centre for Wireless Communications (C-DOT), IndiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 November 2025Spirent collaborated with India's Centre for Wireless Communications (C-DOT) on 5G/6G network testing as part of Spirent's broader engagement in India's telecom testing ecosystem.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• EXFO: EXFO specializes in fiber, optical, and 5G network testing and service assurance for telecom operators and NEMs. It is a direct peer to Spirent's network assurance (VisionWorks) and lab/test automation (Velocity) offerings, particularly in fiber testing and service provider monitoring.
• Viavi Solutions: Viavi Solutions acquired Spirent's high-speed ethernet, network security, and channel emulation testing business for $425M in October 2025, immediately becoming a direct peer in network test and measurement. Viavi competes in network service enablement and 5G/optical testing, overlapping with Spirent's former portfolio and now serving similar Tier-1 operators.
• NETSCOUT Systems: NETSCOUT provides network performance management, service assurance, and cybersecurity solutions for telecom operators and enterprises. It directly competes with Spirent's VisionWorks and UMetrix assurance products in service provider monitoring and root-cause analytics.

Broad incumbents

• Keysight Technologies: Keysight Technologies is the parent company of Spirent following its October 2025 $1.46B acquisition and is also a direct competitor in wireless/RF test and measurement. Keysight competes head-on with Spirent in 5G core/RAN testing, network assurance, and now PNT (via the Spirent portfolio), making it both owner and principal peer.
• National Instruments (NI, part of Emerson): National Instruments, now part of Emerson, provides modular test and measurement platforms used across wireless, semiconductor, and aerospace/defense. NI competes with Spirent in lab automation, RF/wireless test, and PNT-adjacent validation, often serving the same R&D engineering buyers.
• Anritsu: Anritsu is a Japanese test and measurement company with a strong portfolio in 5G, mobile/wireless, and optical network testing. Anritsu directly competes with Spirent in mobile device acceptance testing, 5G NR protocol/RF testing, and high-speed ethernet test serving similar NEM and operator customers.
• Rohde & Schwarz: Rohde & Schwarz is a leading global test and measurement vendor offering wireless/RF, 5G NR, GNSS, and network testing solutions. It directly competes with Spirent in mobile network testing, GNSS simulation, and aerospace/defense test, serving the same Tier-1 NEM, operator, and defense customers.

Emerging players

• u-blox: u-blox provides GNSS positioning and wireless connectivity chips and modules for automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. While a chip/module maker rather than a tester, it is a peer ecosystem participant because Spirent's PNT X and SimXTRACT validate u-blox-style GNSS receivers across the development lifecycle.
• Infovista: Infovista provides network planning, testing, and assurance solutions for 5G, RF planning, and service provider performance. It is an emerging peer in the network assurance space overlapping with Spirent's VisionWorks and Velocity portfolio, particularly with Tier-1 operators.
• LitePoint (Teradyne): LitePoint, a division of Teradyne, specializes in wireless connectivity test for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5G, and GNSS-enabled devices. It is a focused peer to Spirent's Octobox Wi-Fi OTA testing and 8100 mobile device test solutions, serving chipset and device OEMs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Spirent
• Facebookfacebook.com/spirent
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spirent-communications

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A15 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Spirent Communications