Alcatel buys UK metro Ethernet firm

Rethink IT, April, 2005

Alcatel is to buy Native Networks, a UK metro Ethernet access equipment manufacturer, for $55m in cash, the companies have announced. The acquisition will strengthen Alcatel's position in the markets for metro Ethernet and so-called 'triple play' (TV, telephony, and internet access) carrier services, the company said.

Alcatel and Native Networks have collaborated on technology development since February 2003, when they began work on an Ethernet packet ring technology. Now available as an add-on to Alcatel optical networks, this can be used to aggregate traffic from services such as DSL (digital subscriber line), telephony, TV and Ethernet VPNs (virtual private networks) over a single optical network.