As most of the world knows, Nortel filed by bankruptcy protection on January 13^th. In the majority of corporate bankruptcies, the company files under chapter 11 which allows them to discharge most of their liabilities and emerge as an existing entity.

Nortel does not look to be going down this path but rather looks to be liquidating its assets, putting up different parts of the company for sale. They’ve already sold their layer 4-7 data business to Radware. Now up on the auction block is their Enterprise voice business consisting of the widely-deployed Norstar, BCM and Meridian One systems. It is understood that Avaya, Siemens, and Aspect are all interested in the business.

There is discussion that Nortel will emerge in some form or another, keeping a core technology such as metropolitan Ethernet. To this writer, it is just as likely that they disappear all together. And if they do emerge, they’ll be a small bit player, paling in comparison to their previous clout and position in the marketplace.

Regardless of what happens to the Enterprise business, in the short term the more things change the more they stay the same. Business goes on as usual from a day-to-day perspective. The sales and support group are still intact, and equipment and software readily available. Even after the sale it will be at least a couple of years before the dissolution of Nortel will substantially impact end user companies. The acquiring company will most likely provide transition paths to move off the Nortel systems to their platforms. In the cases where Nortel products are superior to their own, they’ll likely re-name them and continue to develop and market them.

Nortel was once a high and mighty flyer. They could do no wrong and were dominant in many of their product lines. However, a horribly overpriced acquisition of Bay Networks marked a turning point in the late 90’s. They couldn’t decide if they were a voice company or a data company. Whether they wanted to concentrate on what they did best or be all things to all people.

When the dotcom implosion occurred, Nortel never recovered. Executive management was shuffled, books were cooked and no meaningful corporate direction was pursued. As one ex-employee said about them, “Nortel – The NO in InNOvation. While their competitors trimmed unprofitable businesses and moved decisively into new technologies such as VOIP, Nortel lumbered along, a beast of a former time. Nobody ever said that capitalism is kind.

I’d like to know your opinion.

Randy Kremlacek

Randy is the President of Teledynamic Communications. The company specializes in premise-based and hosted SIP PBX’s, pbx monitoring and Unified Communications.

Filed under Competitors, PBX - Traditional, Upgrades   5 Comments

At the clang of the Midnight bell on Saturday, March 4^th, the contract between AT&T West and the District 9 chapter of the Communications Workers Of America expired.

Today the organizations are working without a contract and the union has staged a work slowdown. I don’t know much about the machinations of unions but I think I know how to interpret this excerpt from one of their latest news releases:

“We encourage all members to work safely and with the highest possible standards of quality. We want you to comply with all rules and procedures the Company has ever taught you – if they conflict, stop and notify a manager of the conflict so that it may be resolved. Ensure all tools, equipment, furniture, and materials are ergonomically proper, safe, and in proper condition before use. Additionally, ensure all plant and equipment complies with every safety, quality, and regulatory rule. Make certain that vehicles are properly maintained, inspected and safe.

Meanwhile, our bargaining committee will continue to bargain and our members will stay on the job – but it will not be business as usual!”

The negotiations continue but without much headway. What to do? Well, why not head out to the ballpark on opening day and enjoy two of America’s old pastimes, baseball and union rallies?

A good time was had by all. I wonder if the union paid to have members comp’ed to the game? And did they treat them to $10 beers and helpings of $8 garlic fries? It’s all part of a hard day’s work at the union.

Frankly, the whole spectacle disgusts me. The way AT&T runs their duopoly (Verizon being the only other player) makes the federal government look like the model of efficiency. And the CWA has been able to jack up their member’s pay and benefits to obsene levels. I was recently talking to an AT&T technician, probably around 40 years old. He was making $108,000 a year and was complaining that AT&T was attempting to take that salary down to a paltry $100K. This for technical work that could be learned in six months of training! Much of America’s competitiveness issues are reflected in this sorry story.

What do you think?

Randy Kremlacek

Randy is the President of Teledynamic Communications. The company specializes in premise-based and hosted SIP PBX’s, pbx monitoring and Unified Communications.

Filed under Carriers, Telco   Leave a Comment