Ciena throws hat into triple play with Catena buy

Feb 19, 2004 12:00 PM, By Vince Vittore

Add Ciena to the list of companies now chasing the triple play market. The company, which has long been one of the most aggressive acquirers in the optical market, stepped into the access realm today, announcing that it has acquired Catena Networks in an all-stock deal valued at about $486.7 million. In a separate announcement, Ciena also said it has acquired optical components vendor Internet Photonics.

Catena, which has been positioning its CN1000 Broadband Loop Carrier as the basis for integrated voice/data/video services, has had some success in the independent carrier market but also sold into three of the four RBOCs. Both companies share BellSouth as a customer. "With Catena, we gain access to a market as service providers shift spending to the access portion of their networks," he told investors and analysts during a conference call this morning.

Added, Steve Chaddick, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Ciena: "Frankly, it’s where the money is being spent."

Smith believes there are plenty of synergies between the two companies and likes the fact that Catena has a similar network management system that will blend well with Ciena’s own software. Additionally, the two companies’ products already interoperate with Ciena’s DN7 platform primarily being used for broadband aggregation.

The Catena acquisition marks the second move this week by a larger player to get further into the access market. Nortel Networks said on Tuesday that it had signed a significant marketing and sales alliance with Calix.