Ericsson and Ciena today announce a strategic global agreement to develop joint transport solutions for IP-optical convergence and service provider software-defined networking (SDN). As part of this agreement, Ericsson offers Ciena's Converged Packet Optical portfolio, including the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform and 5400 family.
Ericsson will benefit from Ciena's best-in-class optical technology leadership, including its WaveLogic coherent optical processors and global market presence. Combined with Ericsson's strong IP portfolio and Global Services organization, service providers will be able to deploy IPoWDM technology and to evolve their transport network into a SDN-enabled infrastructure. This will result in lower total cost of ownership and faster deployment of new services.
"This strategic global agreement brings together two companies uniquely positioned to drive the adoption of more open, programmable networks. The integration of our industry-leading packet-optical technologies into Ericsson's portfolio, combined with our global distribution agreement, allows us to address a wider market with a combined offering," said Gary Smith, President and CEO, Ciena. "As our industry moves toward a more open networking environment, collaboration within an ecosystem of specialists will be critical for innovation. Our SDN-focused joint development activities will enable us to deliver on network transformation strategies that dynamically support changing demands for network-level applications and services."
"The convergence between IP and Optical network layers in an Open SDN controlled architecture will enable more flexible and cost efficient networks for Service Providers" said Johan Wibergh, Executive Vice President and Ericsson's Head of Business Unit Networks." This agreement allows us to offer Ciena's industry-leading Packet-Optical products. This is a great complement to our portfolio of 4th Generation IP products and will enable more complete and competitive solutions to our customers."
The strategic agreement is effective immediately, and go-to-market activities and solution integration efforts are underway.
Ericsson Telebriefing
Ericsson will host a telebriefing today, Friday, February 14, 2014 at 6pm CET (12noon EST, 9am PST), for investors, analysts and media to discuss this strategic global agreement.
For details of the briefing, please refer to Ericsson investor page here: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/investors
Source: http://www.ericsson.com