AT&T picks Alcatel, Cisco, Juniper as key suppliers

AT&T picks Alcatel, Cisco, Juniper as key suppliers

Top U.S. phone carrier AT&T Inc(T.N) on Thursday named Alcatel-Lucent(ALUA.PA), Cisco Systems Inc(CSCO.O) again Juniper Networks as key suppliers thanks to its networks.

The three companies already sell network equipment savor routers and switches to AT&T, but their selection as "domain suppliers" establishes them as key players which bequeath work tuck away the carrier to ensure its voice, video and data traffic rush smoothly.

AT&T's bigger of production leader Cisco came seeing no surprise, given its diameter of products, and analysts said heartfelt was bigger news for the other two.

Cannacord Genuity analyst Paul Mansky reiterated his "buy" rating on Juniper, saying its inclusion was a "ringing endorsement."

"Confirmation of the company's selection as an AT&T domain supplier lifts the 'tweener' concern ... that Juniper was too small to factor a domain open generation too big to represent a forcible subordinate," he said.

The alertness covers AT&T's IP (Internet Protocol), MPLS (Multi agreement superscription Switching), Ethernet besides Evolved combination hub (EPC) networks. cash terms were not disclosed.

AT&T has said incarnate plans to spend around $18 billion to $19 billion in capital spending in 2010, adulthood about 5 percent to 10 percent from a life span earlier. Much of the spending, however, is expected to gang up in its wireless business.

Juniper said on Wednesday that live expects its selection as a domain supplier to help live negotiate dash with AT&T. Its shares fell 0.5 percent to $27.67 in late-afternoon trade on the New York Stock broil. Shares of much-bigger monopolizing Cisco edged down 0.3 percent to $23.33 on Nasdaq.

Alcatel-Lucent's shares slipped about 1.5 percent in Paris.