Q&A: Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Chief Philippe Morin

On curbing investment in CESRs: When we started investing in it, the CESR market [was projected by analysts to see] around 20% to 25% [compound annual growth rate]. We believe now, from the latest numbers, it’s more flat to declining. So the decision was made more on protection, how we move forward. Do we have a strong enough foundation to leverage that position in a market that’s going to contract? The CESR market is a pretty crowded market. I think we’ve been successful in getting lot of value ported into that market – with PBB in particular. We’re now going to bring that connection-oriented capability into the optical products we’ve got; that’s where the focus is going to be for us.

On CESR talent: I can’t comment on [headcount reductions specific to the Metro Ethernet Networks unit]. The folks that have been developing the innovation we brought into the CESR market will complement the optical platform. It’s difficult to quantify this. The market is evolving toward more of that packet functionality, so I think it’s important that we are able to leverage that innovation and the learning we got from that CESR market.