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Technology Stocks : Newbridge Networks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn McDougall who wrote (10082)	3/6/1999 8:55:00 AM
From: Glenn McDougall	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

Could this be what Alan has talked about during CC at end of Q? He made reference to a different kind of company. "Real world networking company" with IP based in the Boston Region. <<The Future of Technology: Communications is the millennial tornado! from nextgenerationnetworks.com>>

To: Glenn McDougall who wrote (10082)	3/7/1999 3:42:00 PM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

Paul Johnson gave the same talk at the Robbie Stevens conference and at the end drew a huge question mark in the Broadband IP space. The leader there hasn't emerged, he said. Privately, he indicated he thinks it'll be a start-up like Juniper Networks. Knowing Ironbridge has Juniper and the others beat hands down, I asked two friends what they thought --- one from a major US carrier and the other a major networking vendor --- and they explained the scenario wasn't quite that simple. On the vendor side, my friend explained that most analysts don't realize the power of digital technology on the voice network. He said at one time Nortel's DMS architecture involved a call processing engine, a connection matrix, and I/O to get traffic into the switch. It was later applied to the mainframe world and then with the arrival of client/server structures and the advent of UNIX and NT, the job of computing changed and so did central office switches. Enter the packet network which performs the connection function -- UNIX servers with SS7 signalling do the call set up and I/O comes from all the voice and data devices. RBOCs aren't going to bring in forklifts and start from the ground up. Instead, voice traffic will move to the packet data network --- with reduced costs --- and when the packet network is in place it can be used for other data services. RBOCs can't throw out un-depreciated assets and this includes CO switches with very long depreciation periods, not to mention control by the PUC. My friend on the carrier side says: CSI and VToA are very important . . . NN's IP solution, namely CSI is elegant. It is a VPN solution. . . . CSI should be able to incorporate MPLS the reverse would be difficult to impossible.* >* He goes on to say: The VToA application is HUGE. Some carriers are showing an interest in getting rid of tandem switches. (NT/LU bread and butter) If that scenario were to play out, normal voice calls would be routed over a multi-service ATM platform. Translation: a lot of ATM switches would be needed . . . A sentiment mirrored by the vendor side: If this play works and rolls out, then the Class 4 and Class 5 switch vendors could have a serious problem. The golden goose would be replaced with the same client/server model that shook the computer industry to the timbers. Lucent and Nortel aren't stupid. Nor is Siemens. One grabbed Ascend, the other grabbed Bay, and the third has an alliance with NN they'd like to control more than they do. Ericsson and Nokia have both said they're looking for US acquisitions in the data networking space. And both have cash (NOK $13 B US) and shares to bring to the table. In short, Newbridge has carrier class IP/ATM and a pile of affiliates with advanced technologies integrated into their products, and the big boys have money. [Other players include Tellabs and GEC.] Also, NN's LMDS is a stronger card than most realize. The last mile is the "big Kahoona" and there the big three are xDSL, cable, and fixed wireless. The Siemens conference call begins at 8:30 Eastern. Cheers --- Pat