Thoughts on Infinera's success

June 8th, 2008 by · 5 Comments

A few weeks ago, I looked at Infinera’s amazing success penetrating the next generation fiber networks.  What I’m thinking about today is why they have had success amongst these networks but not with the larger more established networks so far – AT&T, VZ, BT, DT, etc.  When I read about this phenomenon in various industry news sources, the difference is attributed to the difficulty any startup faces in breaking into the Tier-1 market, because they are just not trusted by the larger bureaucracies.  And I understand this to be at least part of it – at least it explains why those Tier-1 carriers have been reluctant.  But I think there is more to it, because Infinera has been so dominant with the nextgen carriers and the difference there is too stark.

I now think that Infinera did something else to deliberately target the nextgen market, they tailored their pricing structure to the cash-strapped.  Think about the telecom market a few years ago: nearly all the smaller players – LVLT, Broadwing, XO, Global Crossing, etc – were struggling with cash, the need for capex spending to keep pace with bandwidth growth while pricing was still very fierce.  Then, Infinera rolls out its new systems with a pricing model where their base systems are priced almost at cost, with the modules the plug into it and the software licensing being where the actual money is made over time.  This allowed cash poor networks to overlay new capacity on their networks with very little cash outlay, matching the timing of sales and expenses more closely than they could have otherwise.

I was amazed that XO lit what they did without spending much money at all, because at the time I was monitoring their capex.  I wondered aloud what it was that we didn’t know, how a company of their size could rebuild their network with an almost negligible effect on capex levels – I even wondered if they were really doing it.  I think now that this effect was entirely the point, Infinera’s low initial cost made it much easier for these companies to jump in with them, and then Infinera makes money as these customers sell the bandwidth and buy modules to go with them.

Companies like AT&T wouldn’t care about this at all, but I think it made a huge difference to those like Global Crossing and XO, which probably couldn’t have done it at all otherwise, and to Level 3, whose cash levels are always a subject of scrutiny because of their debt levels until they demonstrate positive cashflow.  In fact, Infinera may be more than a little responsible for each of these companies’ continued independent existence – I don’t think many could have afforded to keep up any other way.

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Categories: Internet Backbones

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5 Comments So Far


  • toddforthree says:

    infn did say about two years ago that they would not target the rbocs initially. it is my “HOPE” that they didnt target the rbocs because of the fiber they have in the ground is not optimal for what infn sells, thus they are not prime canidates to switch quickly. that said it could just be as you pointed out above a money issue.

  • Thomas says:

    I’m not sure why this seems so “ground breaking”. It’s called the razor/razorblade model. Infinera just combined that with the knowledge that breaking into the established carriers takes years. Carriers’ engineering teams also have a NIH syndrome: they believe that they already have it taken care of. It’s when the upstarts show them that they have a better way do they finally capitulate.
    I always find it funny when the carrier market is forced to follow general business principles and then it appears to be a ground-breaking path for them. Shows you what an insulated world they live in.

  • Frank A. Coluccio says:

    Two illuminating articles from Pauline Rigby, editor of fibresystems.org:

    Infinera gets active about passives
    Jun 9, 2008
    The integration technology behind Infinera’s ultra-long haul system is just as interesting as the system itself.
    http://tinyurl.com/59yz7c

    Infinera: in it for the ultra-long haul
    Jun 9, 2008
    Infinera is introducing high-capacity, ultra-long haul capabilities for its digital ROADM. Could this be what it takes for the vendor to break into tier one accounts?
    http://tinyurl.com/6z6hgl

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