Verizon narrows packet/optical search

Verizon isn’t casting a wide net in its search for a packet optical networking platform, according to one Wall Street analyst.

The carrier is believed to have issued a request for proposal (RFP) this summer for a platform that combines packet switching with optical networking. But according to Simon Leopold, an analyst for Morgan Keegan, only a select few vendors got a copy of it.

“I think the RFP was sent only to Alcatel-Lucent, Fujitsu, Nortel and maybe Huawei,” Leopold said in an e-mail, adding that he does not believe suppliers have been chosen yet.

Two notable exceptions to that list are Ciena and Tellabs, neither of which would confirm or deny Leopold’s assertion.

Ciena has been devoting much of its attention in recent months to what it calls the “converged Ethernet” market — a combination of traditional switching, Ethernet and transport that matches other vendors’ descriptions of the packet/optical space.

Tellabs has already sold its 7100 reconfigurable optical add/drop platform to Verizon. Last week the vendor announced the addition of native Ethernet switching to the 7100, available in the fourth quarter. Previously the 7100 supported Ethernet over Sonet and over optical wavelengths.

“Tellabs does not get [Verizon’s packet optical] RFP because the features are in the road map for the current 7100 project,” Leopold said.