Extreme snaps up Soapstone Networks at bargain price

Extreme Networks has acquired the software assets of Soapstone Networks for what it only reveals is for a price under $5 million. Upon completion of the deal, Extreme will own Soapstone's Provider Network Controller (PNC) control plane software, an asset for which the company struggled to find a solid customer base. And after reporting a $10 million net loss in the second quarter, Soapstone decided to shut down the company laying off all but 14 employees.

Soapstone was effectively a spinoff of the former terabit router vendor Avici, which was known for selling its wares to the likes of AT&T and other carriers. However, when its sales began to decline, Avici decided to create the Soapstone venture. Joining Extreme, Hammerhead and Nortel, Soapstone's PNC was developed to help carriers take advantage of Provider Backbone Bridging - Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE), a connection-oriented Ethernet transport technology.

Prior to closing down, Extreme had proved its products could interoperate with Soapstone's PNC. However, Extreme says it not only plans to integrate the PNC software for PBB-TE, but also for other packet-based technologies including PBB and PB Q-in-Q as an element within its own network equipment.

For more:
- Here's the official release [1]
- Telephony has this article [2]

Related articles
IEEE honing long-awaited PBB-TE standard [3]
CTO leaves control plane innovator Soapstone [4]