Zhone acquires Nortel access nodes, DLCs

Zhone Technologies today said it will acquire Nortel’s AccessNode along with the Universal Edge 9000 digital loop carrier shelf and UE 9000 remote access shelf product lines. As part of the agreement, Zhone also will assume support for existing AccessNode and AccessNode Express customers upon closing the deal later this year.

The deal gives new life to a product that Nortel previously planned to shut down. In May, the company notified customers it would no longer manufacture most of the UE or AccessNode lines. The sale is one of the first in what is expected to be a series of transactions that will remove Nortel from the access business.

For Zhone, the deal gives it an instant number-3 market-share position in the next-generation digital-loop-carrier space. It also gives the company access to a large customer base that can be migrated to the Zhone’s single-line, multiservice architecture as different elements of that are completed.

“It’s a big win for us in that we get a big footprint,” said David Misunas, vice president and general manager for the access systems division of Zhone.

Initial plans call for Zhone to keep Nortel’s existing network management system in place for the AccessNode family, though it likely will be integrated with Zhone’s management software in the future.

About 80 Nortel employees will become Zhone employees as a result of the deal.