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jim_duffy
Managing Editor

Nokia darkens Amber

Opinion
Jan 21, 20032 mins
Wi-Fi

* Also, Crescent's last quarter and the diverging fortunes of IP service switch start-ups

Will Nokia ever get this router thing right? The Finnish giant has discontinued the edge router it obtained from its $421 million purchase of Amber Networks two years ago. The ASR 2020 router, touted for its fault-tolerance and reliability, never generated demand in the marketplace. Nokia will instead offer Redback Networks’ SmartEdge 800 under an OEM arrangement for edge routing applications. Nokia acquired a 10% stake in Redback last year with an option to increase it to 20%. Five years ago, Nokia acquired IP switching wunderkind Ipsilon Networks but never produced any meaningful product from that purchase. See story: http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0115amber.html

Will Nokia ever get this router thing right? The Finnish giant has discontinued the edge router it obtained from its $421 million purchase of Amber Networks two years ago. The ASR 2020 router, touted for its fault-tolerance and reliability, never generated demand in the marketplace. Nokia will instead offer Redback Networks’ SmartEdge 800 under an OEM arrangement for edge routing applications. Nokia acquired a 10% stake in Redback last year with an option to increase it to 20%. Five years ago, Nokia acquired IP switching wunderkind Ipsilon Networks but never produced any meaningful product from that purchase.

See story:

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0115amber.html

Crescent Networks is closing, three months after lopping off 66% of its staff. The edge router start-up could not generate revenue before burning through cash and could not generate another round of funding. The company employed only 20 people after its dramatic downsizing last October.

See story:

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0115crescent.html

Ellacoya Networks is faring much better than its start-up competitor in IP service switching and New England neighbor Celox Networks. Ellacoya generated another $14 million in new funding while Celox shuttered operations close to Christmas. Ellacoya says it has 13 paying customers for its IP Service Control System and that 15 more have the product in trials.

See story:

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2003/0115ella.html

jim_duffy
Managing Editor

Jim Duffy has been covering technology for over 28 years, 23 at Network World. He covers enterprise networking infrastructure, including routers and switches. He also writes The Cisco Connection blog and can be reached on Twitter @Jim_Duffy and at jduffy@nww.com.Google+

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