LU is only interested in ASND's ATM business. I think FORE or NN
make better aquisition targets for LU than ASND. (besides bieng a whole lot cheaper. FORE's winning the level 3 account only shows that
they have a carrier class ATM switch.
Anindo, you won't find many on this thread to bite on this one, as most are heavily biased toward an LU/ASND linkage. I personally think LU no longer has interest in ASND, and perhaps any ATM switch company, as they may desire to built this in house. My feeling is they already cover 3 of ASND's 4 major lines with recent acquisitions, or in house developed gear.
1) Yurie - ATM access concentrator equals ASND's SA line.
2) Livingston - RAS/RAC equals ASND's MAX/MAX TNT line, although ASND does own MUCH larger market share.
3) New IP switch - equals (roughly) the GRF line.
They still need the ATM switching line (and customer base to go with it). This makes a case for ASND.
But, to avoid a lot of overlap, they either develop in house or take FORE. FORE is loosely aligned with NT, but very loosely from what I can tell. NN is aligned with Siemens and has too much older TDM gear in the portfolio.
So if I had to place a bet, it would be FORE, or develop internally.
For sake of disclosure, I am long ASND, and hold no position in others mentioned above, although I'm looking to buy FORE under 20.
BTW you arre very correct that FORE is now a legit carrier supplier with the Level 3 win. This was not unexpected, but we here held out hope that ASND would win this business. FORE must have come in with a very good price to establish themselves in this area.
Gary |
