“The primary challenge operators have is mining economic value out of the bandwidth growth and monetizing that traffic,” he said.
“Our control plane integration and software management allows us to put intelligence on the network to allow them to create new services, either as raw Ethernet services or other switched services.”
Smith didn’t give details on Ciena’s expansion plans in Asia, but did say the company was recruiting new people and planned to expand its presence and sales operations, as well as its R&D.
Ciena’s post-MEN financial performance has received mixed reviews from analysts. Fiscal Q3 revenues ending July 31 totaled almost $390 million – well over half of it generated by the inherited Nortel MEN business – compared to $164.7 million year on year.
But Ciena is still in the red with a net loss of almost $110 million, compared to $26.4 million year on year, although Smith pointed out that the adjusted non-GAAP net loss for Q3 was just $8 million, compared to $11.7 million in the previous quarter.
Ciena is also projecting 5% revenue growth for Q4, which Smith says isn’t all that modest “given the fact that we just put these two businesses together, so to be able to put that kind of growth in place is a great testament to the strategic fit.”