Stepping up

Last November, US-based network specialist Ciena Corporation announced it had been selected as the successful bidder in the auction of substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business. The deal capped a significant year for Ciena, which also saw the company establish a presence in the Middle East, with the view to quickly establishing a niche for itself

Ahmad has experience in the region, most recently as Gulf Carrier Sales Manager for Nortel

Ciena Corporation was established in 1992, with its corporate headquarters situated in Maryland, counting more than 2,000 employees. The company’s main area of expertise is in the automation of complex networks with
programmable optical and Ethernet platforms, intelligent software and strategic services; helping customers adapt and scale. In 2009 the company opened its first office in the Middle East, choosing Abu Dhabi as the location from which to service the UAE and Gulf region with its specialist solutions.

“We have been in the region for a few months now,” says Mashood Ahmad, regional managing director, Middle East and Pakistan for Ciena. “We have been conducting the groundwork since the middle of last year and our target audience are tier 1 and tier 2 operators, together with some of the larger government sectors,” he adds.

Ciena’s key offerings include Optical Service Delivery incorporating advanced platform integrating OTN , optical Ethernet, and programmable ports. Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery deals with intelligent devices backhaul and aggregation networks; while the company’s Unified Network and Service Management offers a software solution for comprehensive service life-cycle control and proactive monitoring. Ciena Specialist Services is a practice that applies the company’s expertise across a wide range of technologies and service types.

Ahmad is in a strong position to help Ciena navigate through this new geographic territory given his experience of more than a decade in the telecom sector, most recently as Gulf Carrier Sales Manager for Nortel.

“We are in the business of transitioning optical and Ethernet infrastructure and are looking to alternative providers to help grow Next Generation Networks in which optical and Ethernet are converged into a single network,” Ahmad says. “There is huge demand for bandwidth and we are in fact working with a large incumbent in the Middle East on the deployment of the largest 40 Gig network in the region.”

Ahmad sees similar data traffic demand in the Middle East region as is found in other parts of the world, where demand for broadband access is growing exponentially.

With respect to entering the market at this stage in its development, Ahmad believes traditional vendors have had to consolidate to large degree over the past few years, with last year’s economic downturn compounding matters for the more fragile amongst them. This, Ahmad believes, has opened up opportunities for specialists such as Ciena to offer focussed, dedicated services in specific areas that consolidated vendors may not be able to reach as effectively.

“We offer practical network transition from complicated to automated,” Ahmad says, revealing the company has plans underfoot to open a secondary office in Saudi Arabia soon.

Target sectors outside of telecom that Ciena is looking to establish a strong presence include utilities, research and education, enterprises, as well as government sectors.

“We have seen the Middle East rising to become a technology innovation market, and it is exciting to now be a part of that,” Ahmad comments. “There is a move away from ring architecture to a mesh architecture that requires automation, and our solutions exceed Optical Transport Network (OTN ) standards.”

Ahmad says that while the company has only recently established a permanent presence in the region it is known by customers, and his ambition in the immediate term is to build a wider presence. He would like to see Ciena, ‘scaling with intimacy’, without aiming to take on larger vendors directly, but rather develop a relevant relationship with customers that will see Ciena becoming the provider of choice in the services and products it delivers.

Ciena takes over Nortel’s Ethernet business

Ciena agreed to pay US$530 million in cash and issue US$239 million in aggregate principal amount of 6 per cent Senior Convertible notes due 2017 for a total consideration of US $769 million for the assets. A motion to approve Ciena as the acquirer was heard by bankruptcy courts in the US and Canada on December 2.

“These optical and carrier Ethernet assets bring exceptional technologies, talent and scale that will accelerate Ciena’s current strategy to deliver innovative network solutions to customers worldwide,” said Gary Smith, Ciena’s CEO and president. “With this combination, we are bringing together complementary technologies in switching and transport to create an innovative powerhouse with the scale to challenge the industry status quo and offer customers a practical path for transitioning to automated, optical Ethernet-based networking. We will be intently focused on integration as we work together to deliver the benefits of this transaction to customers, employees and shareholders.”

The assets to be acquired generated approximately US$1.36 billion in revenue for Nortel in 2008 and US$556 million (unaudited) in the first six months of 2009. Ciena is expected to make employment offers to at least 2,000 Nortel employees to become part of Ciena’s global team of network specialists. The transaction is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2010.