To: blankmind who wrote (5874 ) 5/15/1998 8:48:00 AM From: jkb Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 6980
Nice article here. -Jaybiz.yahoo.com ________ Friday May 15, 7:37 am Eastern Time INTERVIEW - Bay Networks open to alliances By Marcel Michelson PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - Bay Networks, a U.S. data network technology company, is open to alliances if this would improve service to clients, but plans to stick to its chosen area of expertise, a senior executive said on Friday. ''We're not going to comment on rumours. What has hit the press the last few days have been rumours,'' Peter George, vice president in charge of operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, told Reuters in an interview. ''Having said that, we think that it would be fair to say that we are in a unique position as a company because of our experience in data networking...in IP (Internet Protocol). ''That is the high growth part of the market and the part in which (other) companies do not have a lot of experience. That is fuelling the speculation,'' he said. George said the market was witnessing a convergence of voice, video and data, adding that Bay Networks was a data expert which had critical mass and global reach. ''Our philosophy is rather simple -- we're going to stick to our knitting and do what we know very well. If that takes the company somewhere in terms of a partnership, acquisition or merger then we will be doing that,'' he said. Bay shares have been boosted recently by rumours of a pending takeover by companies including Northern Telecom (NTL.TO - news), Lucent (LU - news), Motorola (MOT - news), Ericsson AB (LMEb.ST) or Alcatel Alsthom (CGEP.PA). George said more and more companies in Europe, as well as the United States, would outsource their data networks as they have already done with voice traffic. ''You will see that PTTs (phone companies), ISPs (Internet service providers) and emerging PTTs and ISPs will want to obtain core technologies in this area and you do that by training your own people, by a strategic partnership or by acquiring somebody.'' Bay Networks' main competitors are Cisco (CSCO - news), 3Com Corp (COMS - news) and Ascend Communications Inc (ASND - news). Last month, Bay Network reported disappointing third quarter figures, with net income falling to $10 million, or four cents per share against an expected 12 cents. ''We think the industry is going through a technology transition. There is an industry softness which we felt in particular because we're leading that transition away from router-based networks to routing/switch networks,'' he said, adding that the company's leading new product, Acceler, was currently being tested by clients. ''We have 2,000 units out in the market place and the customers are testing. While they are testing they are not buying,'' he said. ''That is a global phenomenon, we think this quarter will be stronger.'' Bay Networks counts leading banks, stock exchanges and data vendors among its clients. George said sales were growing in Europe, boosted by the introduction of the euro currency and the year 2000 millennium problem -- prompting companies to spend on information technology -- and the Internet revolution. On top of that comes the liberalisation of telecommunications which allows the arrival of new entrants into the market and sharp competition with technical capacities. ''Today the telcos represent 25 percent of our revenues in Europe. We believe that in two years from now our business in Europe will be $1.0 billion (sales) and 50 percent of that will come from some amalgam of the telcos,'' George said. Bay Networks' current annual sales amount to $650 million in Europe on worldwide sales of $2.3 billion.