Summary
1. Small vendors, in particular, cannot afford to have their credibility in question. 2. It is possible that TeliaSonera AB received some incentives for bending over backwards so much on its press release. 3. At least according to the Light Reading piece, Infinera’s six “Tier 1” customers are now referred to as “national.”
Analysis
For starters, the first three paragraphs of the press release provide a very detailed description of TeliaSonera to help Infinera. It makes it clear that it is a major player in the world. Usually, this type of information is left for the end of a press release, as the story should be focused on Infinera’s relationship with its affiliate.
In terms of comments directly to Light Reading, the TeliaSonera executive is extraordinarily generous. He says, “In terms of products, Infinera's was the only future-proof product we saw." However, the fact that so many vendors competed in the RFI is par for the course.
Of course, the network that Infinera is working on is in the United States. Despite great pressure to produce customer wins in Europe, in seemingly being so hesitant to fully describe the true nature of the project upfront, it will only lead to further doubts about sincerity. A company will ultimately pay a price if it engages in generalizations that could be interpreted as being disingenuous.
