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Networks & Infrastructure
C5: ADVA Advances In Germany
T-Com Deal Cements Good 1Q 2007
by Ken Wieland
ADVA, which describes itself as an ‘optical+ethernet’ vendor,
is – arguably – on a bit of a roll.
At the C5 World Forum it announced that T-Com, the
broadband and landline division of Deutsche Telekom, had
selected its FSP (Fibre Service Platform) 3000 metro WDM
optical platform for the expansion of the operator’s city and
regional networks.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed but Deutsche
Telekom is a prestigious customer and a useful reference for
ADVA.
The T-Com announcement comes on the heels of ADVA’s
membership into BT’s 21CN ‘vendor club’ this February when it
was selected to supply its Ethernet NTE (network termination
equipment) for deployment in the UK incumbent’s next-
generation network.
Otherwise known as demarcation devices, the NTE can offer a
range of services and OAM capabilities.
“It took us two-years to go through the selection process with
BT,” says Brian McCann, ADVA’s chief marketing
officer. “We’ve shown that we’re ahead of our competitors [for
NTE].”
Given that BT’s 21CN vendor selection policy has been to
have two vendors per network segment – and the UK
incumbent has yet to announce another NTE vendor alongside
ADVA – McCann’s assertion of market leadership can’t entirely
be dismissed as CMO-speak.
However, ADVA has had an historically close relationship with
BT, having already supplied the UK incumbent with 40,000
Ethernet-based circuits. This no doubt helped ADVA make its
NTE pitch for 21CN.
Shipments of the NTE are expected to start the second half of
this year, but McCann doesn’t expect that will have a
significant impact on the top line until 2008.
“We’re operating in a market [optical and Ethernet] which is
growing at 15-20 percent a year,” says McCann, “but we
expect to exceed that.”
ADVA’s revenue for 2006 was €192.7 m (US$255 m), a 43.1
percent increase on the year before. McCann expects a 30
percent increase for this year. “I see no reason why we can’t
be a US$1 bn business,” he says.
One fly in the ointment could be the slow pace at which
operators roll out Ethernet services, which limits the size of
the addressable market for ADVA and others.
“BT is about five years ahead of the rest [in Europe and
America],” concedes McCann.
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