Glenn,
I take exception to Pat's remarks that Ascend's press release was totally biased, while Newbridge's statements are totally honest and saying it as it is. Rather, I think Newbridge's press release contains more word smithing and deception.
Newbridge Networks is pleased to be the exclusive vendor for the China Post's national backbone," said Constantin Loudiadis. . ."
How can Newbridge claim to the exclusive vendor? Because they used the keyword "backbone". Yes, Newbridge won a contract to sell a few ATM switches to support the China Post's backbone. I would be surprised if more than a dozen core switches are necessary to support this network. Okay, great for Newbridge, but is selling a dozen 36170's worth a 17% pop in Newbridge's stock price? I doubt it.
The complexity in an ATM network resides in the edge switches. It's the edge switches that have to worry about IP/MPLS, FR interworking, and the higher level ATM Adaptation Layers (AAL's). The edge switches make everything simple and easy for the core by cutting all data packets into nice-sized 56-byte cells. That way, the core switches don't get overwhelmed and overworked, and all they have to worry about is switching the cells down the right virtual path/connection.
That Newbridge won the contract for the core doesn't mean squat. Just about anybody's ATM switches can fill in that role, as long as they have an adequately fast switching fabric with enough horsepower not to be overwhelmed by Ascend's BSTDX9000's. Rather, one has to wonder about Newbridge's ability to win the edge. That's the question that counts. Since Newbridge is way behind in IP, I am not surprised with the outcome.
So which company did a better job of hyping a relatively small contract win? Well, since NN went up 17% vs. ASND up 4%, I'd say NN is the better hypster. That's to be expected when you think about the history of these companies.
bucky89 |
