Looks like NT is flexing it's muscle and levering their optics dominance to covince hot-shot data start-ups like Alteon that it's future lies with NT, not LU or ALA.
biz.yahoo.com
And it appears to be paying lot less than CSCO for this one on a comparison basis.
The more i read this acquisition, the more I like it......NT is clearly recognizing the opportunity and seizing it as quickly as it can without imploding!
As I have stated many times, we are undergoing a radical, paradigm shifting change in the essential nature of W.A.N. & Public Networking technology and it is clear that NT recognizes the importance of staking a dominant position BEFORE other slower competitors recognize what is happening.
Quite often, the battle in technology is lost or won WAY BEFORE the general market understand who is actually going to win out and at this point, I have to commend NT for fighting both fronts very effectively (data-CSCO, voice-LU,ALA, Wireless-NOK, ERICY etc.) and going for the ALL-INTEGRATED EDGE-TO-CORE dominance in networking.
The funny thing about networks is that as the transmission technology and functionality become more & more integrated between voice, data, wireless, and the lines between different access method, between edge & core, and between application and the network itself becomes blurred, having dominance in ONE space within networking quite often gives the vendor substantial advantages in another space.
This is clearly what NT believes ---- it is quite the challenge as each space has it's Gorilla (CSCO, NOK, LU -- well at least they used to be!) and NT must execute on all-fronts effectively. If they pull it off, I believe we will start to see their strategy pay off big-time as it will be difficult for Operators to pick any other vendor than NT if NT is able to provide competitive edge to other Operators who use their technology.
In arms race, as a User, you don't care where the bombs are made other than that it is the most potent weapon available to fight their battle.
The old adage about how Carriers will NOT allow themselves to be dependent on one vendor (NT, ERICY, LU, etc.) only made sense BECAUSE the PTT's had monopoly and yielded market powers. With the advent of de-regulation and the explosion of new app's through technological breakthroughs, all gloves are off and every Operator must source the best networking technology and deploy it as quickly as possible if they want to stake out their market share before someone else comes into their territory and steals their customer base. In such situation where your future is in jeopardy, you don't worry about being controlled by one vendor -- you just go out and buy the best technology and worry about the short term !
NT is in a fantastic position to lever their dominance in couple of key areas to truly create a Gorilla status in ALL forms of networking technology .......... and it looks like they have the VISION, the TECHNICAL capability, the FINANCIAL capability, MGMT EXECUTION, and the BALLS to go for it.
(classic example of what I am talking about is their huge deal with BT to supply their next-gen upgrade!)
I used to be bullish about NT's opportunities 5 years ago ---now I am convinced the battle is almost already over and that NT will have achieved it's hedgemonic advantages over single-technology competitors like LU, CSCO and NOK.
Of course i could be totally wrong!!! |
