Qualcomm Technologies continues to expand its portfolio and its business model, as it seeks to reduce its dependence on smartphone chips and address a far broader set of technologies in the telecoms market. Its latest acquisition is of Israel-based Cellwize, a developer of self-optimizing network (SON) and Open RAN automation software. Financial details were not revealed though several sources point to a figure around $300m to $350m – Cellwize had raised about $56m to date. This may seem, at first glance, an odd purchase for a chip giant, but it does fit with one of Qualcomm’s most strategic ambitions, to re-enter the RAN infrastructure market – which it exited in 1999 when it sold its base station chips to…