Verizon Communications issued an RFP earlier this year for packet optical gear and at least three industry analysts are suggesting Fujitsu is well-positioned to win the business. In late August, there was speculation by at least one analyst Verizon was pursuing a fairly limited search for equipment, having sent the RFP only to a handful of specific vendors. Does that mean Verizon will break from RBOC tradition and rush to a final choice? Not necessarily, though Verizon is further ahead than some carriers in its pursuit of gear capable of optical wavelength switching and TDM/IP traffic support that can help it consolidate the number of boxes in its network.
Meanwhile, some vendors, such as Cisco Systems, have stayed out of the packet optical equipment race. Could a relatively quick choice by Verizon lure them into the game?
For more:
- see this story [1] in Light Reading
Related articles:
- Fujitsu [2] reportedly was one of few vendors who received the RFP
Links:
[1] http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=139959
[2] http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/verizon-short-lists-packet-optical-vendors/2007-08-29