Ciena to buy Vyatta virtual routing and switching technology from AT&T

Sept. 2, 2021

The agreement, which the parties expect to close by the end of this year, calls for Ciena to continue to support AT&T’s use of the Vyatta technology in the service provider’s wireless network, including 5G use cases.

Stephen Hardy

Looking to enhance its router and switch expertise, Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN) says it has agreed to purchase AT&T’s Vyatta virtual routing and switching technology for an undisclosed sum. The agreement, which the parties expect to close by the end of this year, calls for Ciena to continue to support AT&T’s use of the Vyatta technology in the service provider’s wireless network, including 5G use cases.

AT&T purchased the Vyatta technology from Brocade in 2017 (see “AT&T to boost VNF efforts with Vyatta network operating system buy”). The service provider has been using the technology to support open cell site routers, among other applications (see, for example, "AT&T submits white box cell site gateway router specs to Open Compute Project" and "AT&T shows off Ufi Space white box cell site gateway router based on OCP specifications").

Ciena sees the acquisition as a step forward for its Ciena’s Adaptive IP portfolio. Speaking during an analyst call to discuss the company’s fiscal third quarter results, Ciena President and CEO Gary Smith said the technology should improve Ciena’s play in metro and edge applications as well as 5G. Scott McFeely, Ciena’s senior vice president of global products and services, also noted that the deal brings them closer to an important customer in AT&T as well as provides them with engineering resources in the UK, where the company currently doesn’t have a similar capability.

“The addition of the Vyatta talent and assets to our Routing and Switching business will extend Ciena’s success in helping customers create virtualized networks and deploy new features faster and cost effectively across 5G, enterprise and cloud use cases,” McFeely was quoted as saying in the press release regarding the transaction.

“This agreement is a sign of the maturity of the ecosystem and encompasses years of innovation, collaboration and expertise,” add Andre Fuetsch, chief technology officer of network services at AT&T via the same release. “Our acquisition of the Vyatta assets in 2017 helped us virtualize 75% of our network and led to the development of the first telco-grade open-source network operating system. We’re looking forward to the continued use of Vyatta and the development of new use cases as a result of this transaction.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.