Copper Mountain shifts focus on sales, marketing to drive new product

Copper Mountain Networks has instituted organizational changes so that it can take greater advantage of the market opportunity for its VantEdge broadband services concentrator, which became commercially available in mid June.

In order to take its product to the large carrier market, the company has decided to invest in additional sales and support resources. This has meant a 26% reduction of its 175-member workforce, which includes engineering, operations, and general and administrative support positions.

“Anyone who has built a sophisticated product goes through a resource shift once the product is completed,” said a company spokesman. However, the economy also affected the company’s decision to shift its focus and cut 26% of its staff, he said.

Copper Mountain estimates that this action will result in a charge of approximately $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2002, with net savings coming in at approximately $3.5 million to $4.5 million per year beginning later in the quarter.

VantEdge currently is in large carrier lab trials in North America and Europe and the company is confident its access product will proliferate despite the economy. “The access space is not expected to get hit as hard as other sectors,” the spokesman said. “There have been reports that have painted access spending as one of the few high spots.”