Nortel plans 802.11n WLAN product line
Nortel Networks plans to deliver its own set of 802.11n wireless LAN products later in 2008, as part of a strategy to package a range of data and voice products to create wholly wireless office environments.
The company claimed it would pump a "significant increase" into R&D to design and build new multiradio access points, and a new line of WLAN switches, though it did not specify how much new investment it would make. At the same time, Nortel said it will create integrated Ethernet switches to replace its dedicated wireless switches with a switch family that can handle both wired and wireless client traffic.
The decision is a blow to Trapeze Networks, which has been Nortel's wireless equipment supplier for several years. Nortel rebrands the Trapeze access points and switches, which corporate customers deploy as an overlay network, with its own infrastructure, security and management separate from the wired network. Nortel said it will continue to resell the Trapeze product until Nortel's products are available.
