"Customers and competitors recognize the strengths that the company has in being able to integrate multiple products in the Tellabs portfolio, including the 8600 series, under the same network management system," says Donegan.

    Tellabs has been the subject of a lot of M&A talk recently. It has reportedly been in the frame to acquire Carrier Access Corp. (Nasdaq: CACS - message board) and has also been identified as a potential acquisition target for both Nokia Siemens Networks and Nortel Networks Ltd. (NYSE/Toronto: NT - message board). (See Carrier Access: Still in Play, Tellabs Close to Carrier Access Buy, Tellabs Still Stands Alone, Tellabs Mum on M&A Talks, and Nortel Takes a Look at Tellabs.)