The first 4G LTE networks were built for data, and they had no native way to carry an ordinary phone call. Mavenir sold the fix. Its software let carriers run voice over LTE and over Wi-Fi, plus texting and other services, on standard computers instead of costly custom hardware. When the Texas company went public in November 2013, carriers around the world were upgrading to LTE and looking for ways to move voice calls onto it.

Phone Calls as Software

Mavenir was founded in 2005 near Dallas and began earning revenue in 2007. Before its offering it raised about $105 million from investors. Pardeep Kohli led it as president and chief executive. The bet was that carriers would run more of their networks as software. Mavenir's products handled voice over LTE, known as VoLTE, and Voice over Wi-Fi. Carriers could launch new services faster and with less special equipment.

Sold, Split and Reborn

Mavenir priced its shares at $10 in November 2013 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as MVNR. The offering raised about $44.5 million. In 2015 Mitel Networks bought Mavenir for $560 million and renamed it Mitel Mobile. Mitel then sold that unit to Xura for $350 million. In 2017 Siris Capital merged Xura and two other companies and brought back the Mavenir name. It remains a private company.

Cover: Trumpeter of the Riflemen, Carle Vernet. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a trumpeter (carrying the voice).