January 10, 2005 Irvine, CA -- Cox Communications Inc. has awarded OpVista Inc. a multi-year contract to deliver the MetroVista DWDM optical transport system to facilitate Cox's migration to a fully converged, next-generation DWDM network. Because Cox allows each of its markets to choose its own equipment from an approved vendor list, the MetroVista equipment will be pitted against Ciena's ONLINE Metro DWDM system in most markets.
According to Dan Estes, engineering manager at Cox, the company already uses the Ciena equipment, as well as systems purchased from Sorrento Networks (now part of Zhone Technologies). While markets that have the Sorrento/Zhone systems in place will be able to continue to purchase them if they'd prefer, the other markets will choose between OpVista and Ciena. Estes says that Cox currently has approximately 33 markets, 13 of which currently use metro DWDM systems.
"Each market is responsible for the profit and loss of their area," Estes explains. "So they have the responsibility to choose wisely as far as their unique needs and bandwidth requirements. Cox has a pool of approved products from a national contract standpoint, and these markets can take advantage of the national buying power to get the volume discounts that are available through that contract."
The demand for DWDM equipment within the Cox system should be strong. "All of our existing markets that have DWDM equipment are looking to expand the number of nodes in their market," Estes says. Of the other markets, "I'm aware of some four or five markets right now that have solicited quotes from current DWDM suppliers," he adds.
Cox chose OpVista's MetroVista optical system based on an RFP released last spring. Estes estimates 16 companies made serious responses.
"OpVista had the highest wavelength density of any of the vendors that we looked at," Estes says. "And their optical broadcast-and-select function was what we were really thinking would be a benefit to us as far as the reconfigurability of our network. And then their business proposal to us was very attractive. OpVista was willing to step up to some of our needs from an operational standpoint as far as element management and installation and support. They put the best proposal on the table for us."
Cox's commitment to reconfigurability impressed OpVista executives. Some carriers say they want reconfigurability, but don't make it a meaningful part of their proposal evaluation, according to Ron Foster, OpVista president, and Brian Drachman, the company's director of product marketing. "Cox really stepped up and they were really looking for a next-generation DWDM platform that would carry them forward into the future. And reconfigurability to them did play in the evaluation criteria," Drachman says. "Not only saying 'yes' to the questions, but long sections on reconfigurability in various different configurations. And it played into the cost modeling that they did."
"This was very well researched by them. I was really surprised at the quality and the insightfulness of the RFP that they put out. It was very clear that these guys know what they're talking about," Foster adds.
Cox is the third MSO-centric carrier OpVista has announced as a customer, joining Time Warner Cable and Time Warner Telecommunications.
-- S. Hardy