Telecom Lead America: Ericsson has decided to sell its
fiber access business to Calix.
Last year, Nokia Siemens Networks, as part of focusing on
mobile broadband segment, has sold a couple of businesses including fixed line
broadband access business and WiMAX.
For instance, Nokia Siemens sold fixed-wireless broadband business to CN
TETRAGEN of Spain. ADTRAN acquired fixed line broadband access business,
and associated professional services and network management solutions from
Nokia Siemens. Nokia Siemens Networks has also sold its WiMAX business.
Ericsson’s fiber access assets are the Ericsson EDA 1500 GPON solution and ONT portfolio.
Calix will offer employment for up to 61 U.S.-based
employees of Ericsson.
Calix has also signed a global reseller agreement with
Ericsson. Calix will become Ericsson’s preferred partner for broadband access
applications. As per the reseller deal, effective for three years, Ericsson
will sell Calix Unified Access systems and software as its preferred fiber
and VDSL2 access solution in 180 countries worldwide.
Carl Russo, president and CEO of Calix, said this
partnership provides Calix, already North America’s fiber access deployment
leader, with an extensive new global reseller channel, while acquisition of
Ericsson’s fiber access portfolio delivers powerful new complements to Unified
Access portfolio.
The partnership allows Ericsson to leverage its strengths
in wireless and end-to-end services. Ericsson will rely on Calix to provide
innovation and expertise in fixed-line broadband access.
Jan Haglund, vice president and head of product area IP
and broadband at Ericsson, this partnership will provide its existing fiber
access customers with world-class support and maintenance, and an expanded
portfolio of access systems and software from a leading company totally focused
on access.
Recently, Northpower selected Ericsson to offer GPON broadband
connectivity. Ericsson New Zealand has signed an agreement with Northpower
to supply the Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) technology component to
the Northpower Fibre Ultra-Fast Broadband network in Whangarei.
A recent survey by Infonetics Research says GPON equipment sales are expected to decline in India
and the Middle East by 2015. The slow growth is because major operators
including BSNL in India and Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates already took
huge OLT and ONT shipments in 2009 and 2010 for large-scale GPON FTTH rollouts.
Both operators expect to achieve their homes passed goals this year. Future
rollouts will be far more limited in these regions as the focus shifts to
subscriber acquisition.
