Sprint awards $1.1 billion deal to Nortel Networks
The Sprint (Westwood, KS) Local Telecommunications Division (LTD) plans to transform its entire telephone network to a more cost-effective "packet" voice network beginning with a supply and services agreement with Nortel Networks (Brampton, Ont., Canada) estimated to be worth about $1.1 billion over four years. "This will position Sprint to offer—more cost-effectively than ever before—all of the high-quality residential and business telephone services its customers have come to expect," said Frank Dunn, president and CEO of Nortel Networks. "In addition, it will enable Sprint to offer its high-speed Internet services to more people than ever before, and to establish a foundation for delivery of future services like desktop video conferencing and video caller ID."
EXFO completes acquisition of Avantas Networks
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (Quebec City, Que., Canada) has completed its previously announced acquisition of Avantas Networks Corp., a Montreal-based supplier of leading-edge fiberoptic testing and optical-network performance management equipment that supports a wide range of protocols and data transmission rates. EXFO plans to take advantage of Avantas' research and development expertise to penetrate the critical protocol-layer testing market and almost double its addressable market size. "During the past 16 years EXFO has developed core competencies in fiberoptic physical- and optical-layer testing," said Germain Lamonde, chairman, president, and CEO of EXFO. "The Avantas acquisition represents a natural evolution for us to enter the protocol-layer testing market and provide telecommunication carriers as well as system manufacturers with a fully integrated solution."
TranSwitch licenses serial link technology from Rambus
TranSwitch Corp. (Shelton, CT) has licensed the Rambus (Los Altos, CA) RaSer serial link cell for integration into its Sertopia single-chip solution for broadband communication systems, such as high-end network routers, relay switches, and ATM internetworking equipment. TranSwitch's Sertopia device connects two remote ports transparently across a high-speed serial link. Integration of the RaSer cell into the Sertopia device enables transfer of cell, packet, and interface information at 1.25 Gbit/s full duplex. In addition, the RaSer cell provides the ability to reliably extend the transfer of data between two interfaces up to 10 m apart.
Optical Communication Products revenue drops more than 50%
Last month, Optical Communication Products Inc. (OCP; Chatsworth, CA) reported a 54.7% revenue decrease for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001, ending on September 30, to $14.9 million from $32.8 million for the same period in fiscal 2000. There was also a 62.3% decrease compared with $39.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2001. The company reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001 of $3.3 million, compared with net income of $8.5 million for the same period in fiscal 2000, and net income of $6.9 million from the third quarter of fiscal 2001. "Our revenues this quarter were clearly affected by the continuing general market downturn in our telecommunications industry," said Muoi Van Tran, chairman and CEO. "The decrease in our revenue is the result of reduced capital spending by service providers as well as existing inventory levels by some of our customers," said Muoi Van Tran, OCP's chairman and CEO.
Also in the news . . .
ADVA Optical Networking (Martinsried/Munich, Germany) has announced the successful deployment of its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 500 to support BellSouth's (Atlanta, GA) point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) Service. Gigabit Ethernet is an extension of BellSouth's existing, fiber-based native mode LAN interconnection (NMLI) solution. . . . According to Reuters, fiberoptic equipment supplier Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) reported a net loss of more than half a million dollars for the six-month period ending in September.
Hassaun A. Jones-Bey