Netadmin at 10 Years: Growth, Stability, and Continued Support for Fibre Operators

Focus, Autonomy, and a New Market

Netadmin Systems was founded in 2004 in Linköping, Sweden, to build operational support software for communications service providers launching fibre networks. Its core platform, Netadmin Nine, supports fibre operators as they build, operate, and monetize their networks, with a focus on reducing time to market, limiting downtime, and improving the subscriber experience. By the time Lumine acquired the business in 2015, Netadmin had strong product-market fit, a loyal customer base, and deep knowledge of the fibre operators it served.

As the team sharpened that focus, it drew on Lumine’s Playbook, a body of more than 600 best practices developed through years of owning and operating communications and media software businesses that faced many of the same practical questions. In practice, that meant experienced people were available to pressure-test decisions on Netadmin’s commercial and operational practices, and the decisions stayed with Netadmin. Over time, Netadmin brought greater consistency to professional services and became more deliberate in how it managed customer relationships and product priorities.

Mattias Jansson, Netadmin’s Chief Architect and a member of the team since before the acquisition, continues to lead the architectural work that shapes how the product evolves. For him, one of the most important parts of Netadmin’s decade with Lumine is that product decisions have stayed close to the market. The people who work with fibre operators every day still shape the roadmap, with Lumine providing support in the background.

The UK offers a practical example of that focus. As a wave of new full-fibre providers launched across the country starting in 2018, a focused go-to-market approach and Netadmin’s expertise in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) allowed the company to win several of these new vertically integrated broadband providers.

Open Access: A Nordic Model Meets the UK

Open access networking, where multiple service providers share the same fibre infrastructure, was already well established across the Nordics, and Netadmin’s architecture had been built for that environment. Early conversations with UK operators reflected some hesitation about opening their networks to competitors, but the economics changed that view as the country’s full-fibre rollout accelerated through the early 2020s.

Operators already running Netadmin had a competitive edge over their peers, because the platform’s flexibility let them support both a retail business model and an open access model. Ulf described open access as a model that gives operators the option to begin as the sole service provider and later invite additional providers onto the same infrastructure, increasing network utilization along the way. “What we have seen over time is that the model can do the opposite of reducing revenue,” he said.

Ulf describes that access as practical. The question might be about sales, product, people, or how to think through a customer issue, and he says it helps leaders build confidence “because they are learning from people who have done the work.” That access helps the business move quickly when a question comes up.

The same approach shapes Ulf’s work as a Group Leader. He serves as a practical resource for CEOs who continue to lead their own teams and make decisions for their markets, often by connecting them with someone elsewhere in the group who has worked through a similar challenge. His view is that durable growth depends partly on creating room for people to grow, whether that means a larger role in the same business or a move across the group.

Customer Continuity

When ownership changes, customers that rely on mission-critical software want to know the product will still be supported and developed by people who understand it. Lumine’s commitment to buying and holding businesses permanently is meant to answer that question. Ulf has seen this directly in a conversation with one of Canada’s largest telecommunications operators about another Lumine company whose software supports core network infrastructure. The customer wanted assurance that the software would remain stable and supported, and that its owner took a long-term view. Ulf found that Lumine’s acquisition record, with no business ever sold, was a large part of the answer.

For Netadmin’s customers, that continuity shows in the product and the people behind it. Netadmin Nine is now on its third major version, much of the team remains in place, and operators that were customers in 2015 still work with Netadmin today, many through expanded contracts.

Recent product development follows the same pattern. Netadmin’s Network Insight Portal gives network owners, including estate owners and similar external parties, self-service access to manage addresses, devices, sites, contact information, tickets, troubleshooting, reporting, ordering, and subscription management within their own limited subset of the network. For operators, the portal reduces administrative work and gives network owners more direct visibility and control.

Ten Years On

A decade after the acquisition, Netadmin is a larger, global business that still draws on the foundation before it. Net revenue doubled in the first five years under Lumine ownership, and continues to grow year after year. The company now serves more than 75 operators across 15 countries, including a UK market it did not serve ten years ago. As it keeps growing, the priority is to preserve the product knowledge and close customer relationships that brought the business to this point.

Ulf Engstrand, Netadmin’s Director of R&D, has been with the company for more than 20 years across a range of R&D roles. His background is in fibre network operations, and he has helped move Netadmin Nine forward through its successive versions. His priorities now include cloud-native architecture, integrations, and keeping product development tied to the daily challenges fibre operators face, as Netadmin works toward AI-driven service fulfillment and intelligent network management. Looking ahead, he points to what customers value most about the business, “As we keep growing, I think the most important thing is not to lose what customers value about Netadmin,” he says. “They know our people, they rely on the product, and they trust that we understand fibre operators. Growth should make those things stronger.”

Looking back on the decade, Ulf Lindberg pointed to continuity: “When I look back at the last ten years, what stands out is the continuity. Netadmin is still close to its customers, the product has continued to develop, and people have had room to grow. That is what a permanent home should make possible.”