Why this represents good news and bad news for current Verizon supplier Tellabs
Verizon is set to tap Motorola as its second source supplier of FTTP gear, besting Alcatel on price, according to investment firm UBS Warburg.
Verizon is set to tap Motorola as its second source supplier of FTTP gear, besting Alcatel on price, according to investment firm UBS Warburg.
This is both good news and bad news for current supplier Tellabs. Motorola isn’t expected to ramp up shipments of its FTTP gear, obtained through last year’s acquisition of Quantum Bridge, to Verizon until 2006 while it spends this year integrating the systems with Verizon’s OSS.
Meanwhile, Alcatel was ready to go this year.
That means Tellabs will be the sole supplier of FTTP actives to Verizon this year. Tellabs acquired this distinction by purchasing Advanced Fibre Communications (AFC) eight months ago.
But by coming in under Alcatel, Motorola also introduced “new pricing” for FTTP actives that could come back to bite Tellabs, UBS reports.
Verizon says it will name a second source for FTTP actives this year, but would not comment when asked if it was Motorola. And since Verizon hasn’t announced a second source yet, Tellabs declined to comment on “speculation.”
Motorola did not return a call by press time.
Verizon and AFC ran into some snags early on in their FTTP project when AFC reportedly shipped some equipment to Verizon that was not quite up to the task at hand. The two have since patched things up and began deployments in Keller, Texas, eight months ago.
