Accenture has agreed to acquire Ookla, a company specialising in network intelligence and customer experience analytics, for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction aims to enable Accenture to broaden its services for communications service providers, hyperscale cloud operators, and enterprises by incorporating Ookla’s data products, such as Speedtest, Downdetector, Ekahau, and RootMetrics, into its portfolio.

This integration will support businesses in managing and improving Wi-Fi and 5G networks that underpin their digital operations.

With the growing influence of AI across sectors, organisations are increasingly relying on network data for a range of applications beyond telecommunications.

Insights collected from devices, networks, and applications now contribute to areas such as fraud detection in banking, analytics for smart utilities, and traffic management in retail.

Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet said: “Without the ability to measure performance, organisations cannot optimise experience, revenue, or security.

“By acquiring Ookla, we will help our clients across business and government scale AI safely and build the trusted data foundations they need to deliver the reliable, seamless connectivity that creates value.”

Ookla’s platform processes more than 1,000 attributes per test, forming the basis for these insights.

Seattle-based Ookla operates globally and includes brands that focus on network connectivity measurement.

The company employs around 430 staff with expertise spanning software engineering, radio frequency systems, and data science.

Its data ecosystem is built on over 250 million user-initiated tests each month and is enhanced by additional controlled testing methods.

Ookla CEO Stephen Bye said: “Joining Accenture will allow us to scale our premiere network data business across the world’s largest enterprises and accelerate our goal of creating better connected experiences.

“Our combined capabilities will enable us to more effectively serve CSPs, AI infrastructure providers, edge data centres and enterprise networks.”

Ookla was founded in 2006 and operates as a division of Ziff Davis. Its technology provides communications service providers with real-time performance benchmarking and infrastructure planning tools powered by predictive simulations and AI.

Hyperscale cloud providers use Ookla’s capabilities to help maintain resilient infrastructure at the edge for AI workloads.

Enterprises deploy Ekahau’s hardware and software solutions from Ookla to design and troubleshoot private wireless networks.

The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals and standard closing conditions.