Time to deal

Deals, deals and more deals… Let’s Make a Deal. Last week saw a bevy of deal making as carriers opened their pocketbooks and vendors looked to get in on some anticipated action. Bell Canada, for instance, shelled out $146 million to Nortel for some IP telephony and multimedia application gear. The two are also establishing a so-called “Innovation Centre” in Ottawa and other Canadian cities to develop IP multimedia service that integrate capabilities from third-party products. Analysts say the Bell Canada/Nortel union could be a big shot in the arm for IP Centrex and represents the largest installation to date of Nortel’s Multimedia Communications Server product. http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0908ntbell.html

Deals, deals and more deals… Let’s Make a Deal. Last week saw a bevy of deal making as carriers opened their pocketbooks and vendors looked to get in on some anticipated action. Bell Canada, for instance, shelled out $146 million to Nortel for some IP telephony and multimedia application gear. The two are also establishing a so-called “Innovation Centre” in Ottawa and other Canadian cities to develop IP multimedia service that integrate capabilities from third-party products. Analysts say the Bell Canada/Nortel union could be a big shot in the arm for IP Centrex and represents the largest installation to date of Nortel’s Multimedia Communications Server product.

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0908ntbell.html

AT&T is also gearing up for next-generation service delivery. The carrier is installing Lucent’s Metropolis DMX metro SONET gear in anticipation of offering Ethernet-over-SONET services. Terms of the contract were not disclosed, though Lucent says it will generate “significant” revenue for the equipment vendor. Specific equipment includes Lucent’s Metropolis DMX Access Multiplexer in central offices and Metropolis DMXtend Access Multiplexer for enterprise and loop access applications.

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0909lucatt.html

On the vendor side, Ciena made another move to get in on some edge action through a start-up. The optical stalwart was the primary investor in edge router maker Laurel Networks’ $20 million third round and agreed to resell Laurel’s ST200 system. We’ve seen this before: In an effort to broaden its presence beyond metro and long-haul optical switching and transport, Ciena acquired stakes in multiservice switch makers WaveSmith Networks and Equipe Communications last year. Ciena then acquired WaveSmith just before WaveSmith announced a big win at SBC. Laurel’s customers include Level 3 and Korea’s Dacom, and rumor has it Laurel is being considered for deployment in some other incumbent carrier networks. The amount Ciena’s investment was not disclosed.

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0910cienabuy.html