Radware Overhauls Nortel Switches

MAHWAH, N.J. (TheStreet -- Radware(RDWR) claims to have thrown a lifeline to users of Nortel's(NT) Alteon switches.

The Israeli networking specialist snapped up the Alteon line from the troubled Canadian gearmaker earlier this year and is now launching the first new version of the technology in half a decade.

Radware took the wraps off the Alteon 5412 switch Monday, which it is touting as the solution to users' networking woes.

"In the last five or six years Nortel did not release any new [Alteon] hardware, any new platforms," Roy Zisapel, the Radware CEO, told TheStreet, in a phone interview. The 5412 is five times faster than previous versions of the technology, he added, and is also the first to offer 10-Gbit/s connectivity.

"For customers whose previous Alteon switches have started to reach capacity, now they don't have a problem," said the CEO. "They can consolidate multiple applications and networks on one switch -- it really gives the customers the ability to migrate to next-gen data centers."

Like other tech companies, Radware has had to weather a tough economic climate but returned to profitability in the second quarter.

Radware, which competes with Cisco(CSCO), F5 Networks(FFIV) and Citrix(CTXS), surged past Wall Street's estimates in its recent third-quarter results and is striking a bullish tone.

"Q3 was a record quarter, it was boosted both by organic growth and growth in our Alteon business," said Zisapel. The gearmaker sold more Alteon devices during the quarter than Nortel did in recent quarters, he added, but refused to reveal specific numbers.