Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. has won the job to supply Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) with packet optical gear, according to one analyst's report.

Fujitsu's Flashwave 9500 beat out the Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) 1850 Transport Services Switch and the Nortel Networks Ltd. Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 for the honor, Simon Leopold of Morgan Keegan & Company Inc. wrote in a note issued today.

Verizon officials could not be reached before press time, and Fujitsu declined to comment on the matter.

The win would be no particular surprise, given that analysts were picking Fujitsu as the front-runner. (See Fujitsu Leads in Verizon RFP.)

In fact, Fujitsu designed the Flashwave 9500 to match Verzion's requirements, including Ethernet functionality, according to Heavy Reading analyst Sterling Perrin.

Alcatel-Lucent leads the optical equipment market in sales, but this loss would still be a blow to the company, Leopold believes. "We think Alcatel-Lucent is losing ground at the former Lucent's top customer Verizon," he writes.

He adds that Verizon's decision might be a sign that some U.S. optical customers are turning away from the merged Alcatel-Lucent, which discontinued some of Lucent's product lines. Alcatel-Lucent declined to comment on that statement. (See AlcaLu Makes Product Cuts .)

Verizon's request for proposals (RFP) was asking for gear to deploy alongside the Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB; Frankfurt: BTLA) 7100 Optical Transport System. Fujitsu, if it's truly won, becomes a second source, with Tellabs remaining Verizon's primary vendor for reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs).

But Tellabs is going to have to invest further in the 7100 to add the carrier Ethernet features that Verizon wants, Leopold writes.

Packet optical gear, combining Sonet/SDH transmission and wavelength switching with carrier Ethernet, is a hot ticket these days. Perrin has said 2008 should be the year that packet optical transport systems -- or whatever you want to call them -- start blossoming as a market. (See Packet Optical Market Set to Explode and AT&T, Verizon Have Optical Wishes.)

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading