Where do I buy used optical networking equipment, cheap?
June 13, 2008 3:49 PM Subscribe
I am looking for vendor sources to purchase used optical network transport equipment (OC-12/OC-48 generation) and spare parts.
I am developing the budget for a medium distance point to point fiber optic link to be installed in a third world nation. This would be in direct competition with a microwave relay system, but we don't know yet whether the microwave system would be more or less expensive. Undoubtedly the microwave relay system would have less total capacity, so it's not just a decision about Mbps per dollar. Fixed costs for fiber installation are relatively well known (cable price per km, number of poles per km, installation cost per pole, N km between regen huts, etc).
In the 2002-2003 era following the US dotcom/telecom market bust, there seemed to be an infinite amount of slightly used backbone routing and optical transport gear floating around the market, at ridiculously low prices. It would even turn up on eBay occasionally (I recall one company that sold ten Juniper M160s on eBay). I stopped paying attention to the used market for that sort of stuff around early 2004...
We are looking for vendor sources that sell used 5+ year old OC-12/OC-48 optical network transport gear. This would typically be something pulled from a major carrier's network after an upgrade. Where does all the old Ciena and Alcatel optical gear go when a carrier decides to upgrade to 10 Gpbs * 80 wavelength? Are there some equipment brokers that specialize in this sort of stuff? I do know of about ten different companies that buy and sell used routing/switching stuff, using business models similar to networkhardwareresale.com. Basically we're looking for anything electronic that might be found at either end of a 200 km link, or installed inside a regen hut, except for equipment which will be purchased new (generators, HVAC, alarm system). DWDM transport, Raman / Erbium Doped amplifiers, etc. Sources for older test equipment such as Anritsu / Ando optical spectrum analyzers could be useful as well.
I am developing the budget for a medium distance point to point fiber optic link to be installed in a third world nation. This would be in direct competition with a microwave relay system, but we don't know yet whether the microwave system would be more or less expensive. Undoubtedly the microwave relay system would have less total capacity, so it's not just a decision about Mbps per dollar. Fixed costs for fiber installation are relatively well known (cable price per km, number of poles per km, installation cost per pole, N km between regen huts, etc).
In the 2002-2003 era following the US dotcom/telecom market bust, there seemed to be an infinite amount of slightly used backbone routing and optical transport gear floating around the market, at ridiculously low prices. It would even turn up on eBay occasionally (I recall one company that sold ten Juniper M160s on eBay). I stopped paying attention to the used market for that sort of stuff around early 2004...
We are looking for vendor sources that sell used 5+ year old OC-12/OC-48 optical network transport gear. This would typically be something pulled from a major carrier's network after an upgrade. Where does all the old Ciena and Alcatel optical gear go when a carrier decides to upgrade to 10 Gpbs * 80 wavelength? Are there some equipment brokers that specialize in this sort of stuff? I do know of about ten different companies that buy and sell used routing/switching stuff, using business models similar to networkhardwareresale.com. Basically we're looking for anything electronic that might be found at either end of a 200 km link, or installed inside a regen hut, except for equipment which will be purchased new (generators, HVAC, alarm system). DWDM transport, Raman / Erbium Doped amplifiers, etc. Sources for older test equipment such as Anritsu / Ando optical spectrum analyzers could be useful as well.
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Right now you're asking for generics, this is usually not how infrastructure is built, your question reads more as a test to see what vendors are in a specific market from a competitor evaluation perspective more than how do I get XYZ pieces of gear outside of general sales channels available for new equipment.
posted by iamabot at 7:27 PM on June 13, 2008