Telecom Ramblings

Italian carrier Tiscali has chosen Infinera for its backbone.  They will be deploying both Infinera’s DTN in the longhaul and its ATN in the metro across their footprint.  That includes more than 80 metro areas or most of the substantial cities in the country.  Infinera has been relatively quiet since formally rolling out its new metro gear, but it seems clear that the ATN had a lot to do with this win.  With its 40G gear still about a year away Infinera’s growth in 2010 will lean heavily on its new metro and submarine products, so every joint win counts.

It’s rather easy to forget that Tiscali still exists after the recession exacerbated the company’s missteps in recent years and forced the dismemberment of most of its international presence.  This move to upgrade their Italian backbone suggests that the former pan-European challenger has stopped retreating and is now regrouping.  With 700K customers and a large national metro footprint, their assets may be enough to turn things around.  Maybe in a few years, we’ll see Tiscali back in the thick of things?