Ciena establishes presence in NZ

Vendor sets up here and in Australia after Nortel buyout

Networking specialist Ciena has set up shop in New Zealand and Australia, prompted by its acquistion of Nortel Networks’ metro ethernet business (MEN) in the wake of Nortel’s bankruptcy. Former Nortel offices in the two countries are now Ciena ones.

Ciena inherited two former Nortel Asia-Pacific executives, Anthony Mclachlan and David McDermott, when it acquired the MEN. Mclachlan and McDermott have taken up the roles of Asia-Pacific general manager and Australia-New Zealand regional director at Ciena, respectively.

A media statement from Ciena announcing the change states: “McDermott is directly responsible for managing Ciena’s Australian and New Zealand business, which encompasses all existing customer accounts inherited through the MEN acquisition, including Optus, AAPT, Uecomm, VERNet and the Australian Securities Exchange in Australia, and TelstraClear and Southern Cross in New Zealand.”

Mclachlan and McDermott are both Nortel veterans, each with more than a decade’s experience at the vendor.

Ciena’s move to establish itself here has echoes of fellow vendor Avaya, which set up Avaya New Zealand following Avaya's purchase of Nortel’s enterprise business following Nortel’s bankruptcy.