Techie,
Yes, I did that for a reason. There are 5 RBOCs (pending regulatory approvals) and they think and act differently. Each of the companies mentioned will appear on someone's short list. True, smaller concerns will need a prime contractor to team with, but the prime must bring value as well. And RBOCs (as well as most telephone companies) hate to single source network or switching elements. They prefer to reduce risk and improve negotiating position by dual-sourcing. Usually, one vendor gets up to 70% of the business, though.
As far as existing trials go, Westell seems to be doing quite nicely with equipment at Bell Atlantic, GTE and Nynex. Given the BANX merger and the density of the Northeast corridor, this single customer could propel sales into the stratosphere.
As far as CO integration goes, the telcos have rolled out numerous SCP and IP-based (not Internet Protocol but Intelligent Peripheral) services without integrators. Not that they didn't need them, but the unions are still strong in the switchroom. |
