A Broadband Redflag?
JDS Uniphase’s latest financial report, and weak guidance sent the optical gear maker’s stock reeling. However, it could be a red flag for all companies tied into the Broadband Access ecosystem.
“The surprise of the quarter was the weak guidance for test and measurement related gear,” CIBC World Markets analyst Jeff Osborne wrote in a note to clients. “We believe the lion’s share of JDSU test gear is aimed at the carrier market, and in particular broadband services. Domestic carrier mergers, technology debates/challenges, as well as regulatory uncertainty have led to a slowdown in access-related spending globally.”
JDS Uniphase customers include Verizon, Nortel and Lucent. The consolidation of carriers is something which had bothered me back in the day when the deals were being announced. Do you think this is an issue localized to JDS, or do you think that consolidation is going to ripple through the broadband access equipment vendors?
We’re seeing consolidation all over the place.
Nortels Selling of thier UMTS systems to Alcatel/Lucent shows that.
The consolidation we’re going to see going forward is the complete ending of tier 2/3 suppliers being allowed to BID into ‘open bids.’ Thats where you’ll see the big 3 consolidate their authority over the integration of products.
Test gear is a forward indicator. Slowing testing spend could mean we are past the stage. Plus EXFO has not seen slow down or has not said they have. We know DT is slowing down and so is Telstra; BLS with the integration will slow down and then VZ?
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