Compelling strategy

    Heavy Reading's Donegan, a backhaul system specialist, considers Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB - message board; Frankfurt: BTLA) to be the market leader in terms of having common network management across its portfolio of IP/Ethernet backhaul products. But he believes META provides a blueprint whereby AlcaLu could match or even surpass Tellabs by offering an even broader common network management umbrella that incorporates not just multiservice switching and optical products, but the point-to-point microwave and radio access (mobile base station) products too.

    "It's a tall order", says Donegan "and Alcatel-Lucent is not going to get there overnight, but the strategy is compelling, particularly given Alcatel's pedigree as a market leader in network management long before the merger with Lucent."

       The one hole Donegan spotted in the META strategy is the absence of a one-unit cell site product -– the 7705 is a two-unit product that may be bigger than carriers need.

    Donegan believes AlcaLu will need to source one-unit products from third-party vendors where customers want them. "Whereas Tellabs has recently launched the 8605 one unit pseudowire-enabled cell site device, there's no near-term commitment from Alcatel-Lucent to a one unit iteration of the 7700 series," says the analyst.

    AlcaLu product marketing executive Phil Tilley says a one-unit version of the 7700 platform is in the company's plans but not something that's being actively developed at present.

    He says AlcaLu has worked with a number of vendors to supply carriers with small edge aggregation platforms, and that the company has a relationship with Telco Systems (BATM) in this area.

    Tilley also says such third-party products can still be recognized by the META management system, though not necessarily deliver full service management capabilities.

    The all-in-one pitch

    AlcaLu is pitching META as an all-in-one offer to carriers that will deliver the full benefits, especially in terms of operating costs, if deployed as an end-to-end integrated network architecture. But how many carriers want to take their whole backhaul network from one vendor?

    Rahier says the demand for end-to-end systems is growing, and that about 50 percent of TPSDA deployments with fixed-line operators have involved multiple, integrated platforms. "What's important to keep in mind is the reference architecture. The problem of the carrier is to transform to IP as quickly and efficiently as possible, and they're under tremendous pressure to do this. They're more open to looking at ways of optimizing capex and opex, and optimizing one box in the chain is not enough to deliver the benefits needed. Customers are now more receptive to end-to-end systems, and have been for the past two to three years," claims Rahier.

    The AlcaLu executive says the META architecture is being trialed by a number of carriers, but no names can be announced just yet (quelle surprise!).

    —Ray Le Maistre