Cisco Systems yesterday announced its move into the optical transport segment of the networking market with the acquisitions of Cerent for $US6.9 billion and Monterey Networks for $500 million.
Both deals, which have been approved by the companies' boards of directors, are stock transactions and remain subject to regulatory approval.
The optical transport market is expected to be worth $10 billion in 2002, Cisco said in a statement yesterday announcing the acquisitions. The optical transport technologies from Cerent and Monterey will result in Cisco offerings that will help service providers migrate from circuit-based networks to so-called "New World" cell and packet-based networks, the company said.