Cable Test Firms Merge

Cognizant of the rapid convergence among its telecommunications customers, Dynatech Corp. has spent $600 million to acquire cable test equipment manufacturer Wavetek Wandel Goltermann (WWG) and merge it with its telco subsidiary TTC.

The combined wholly-owned subsidiary is expected to compete with Hewlett Packard Co. subsidiary Agilent Technologies Inc. for the voice, video and data test equipment market.

"If we aren't number one, we are now a peer of Agilent for the leading global communications test company," said Joe Budano, WWG's SVP-North American Operations, who noted that the merger reflects a telecommunications industry trend.

"We mirror what's going on in the industry," he explained. "They want to put data and telephony over cable (and) we have to find a way to be not only a video test company but also a data and telephony test company."

By merging WWG's cable strengths With TTC's telephony expertise, the subsidiary can offer full solutions to newly converged networks such as those being operated by AT&T Corp.

"We can meet the needs of AT&T starting in their core transport network, their big fiber backbones, all the way through their access networks and through to the home installer who's putting in a cable modem," Budano said. "We can be their vendor of choice through their entire network."

While test equipment was a focused technology, there is little room for niche companies, said Budano.

"If you look at some other test equipment manufacturers that only do one category of test equipment, those niche players will be marginalized in the future because of convergence," he said.

It's also tough to develop technologies to fill missing needs.

"You can't do it organically," he insisted. "You have to buy companies that have already developed the technology."

While the new subsidiary will, for the next 90 days or until the close of the transaction, carry the unwieldy WWG/TTC moniker, that will change, Budano promised.

"Shortly after the close we'll be launching, much as Agilent did, a new brand, a new logo and a new name for the company," he said.

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