AT&T picks legacy gear for new video network

NEC America scored a surprising win in the second quarter, with a significant sale of legacy optical equipment to AT&T.

NEC is an incumbent supplier of legacy optical gear to AT&T. But its sale of that legacy gear for the construction of a new video distribution network surprised analysts at Ovum-RHK.

“NEC hadn’t been doing very well in North America recently,” said Dana Cooperson, Ovum-RHK’s vice president of network infrastructure. “Their revenue jumped substantially in North America [in the second quarter]. That was a big surprise.”

More surprising than the top-line curve, Cooperson said, was AT&T’s decision to use legacy gear for a new video network. “We were surprised they wouldn’t go with Siemens or something else newer. But AT&T’s people know the equipment and are comfortable with it. I think it’s a combination of it working and being priced right.”

AT&T did pick Nokia Siemens Networks’ next-generation gear in addition to NEC’s, she said.

Cooperson described various trends surrounding the second-quarter optical market in a recent TelephonyOnline podcast.

AT&T declined to comment for this story.