I was an under graduate engineer at Nortel Networks in the late nineties and early nougties writing code and building rigs to automate the testing of OC192 tx /

I was an under graduate engineer at Nortel Networks in the late nineties and early nougties writing code and building rigs to automate the testing of OC192 tx / rx components before they were assembled and usually dropped under the ocean. I was amazed at the capabilities of this hardware and the next generation from both Nortel and its competitors,like Lucent. It amazes me what is achievable but not viable for mass production. Or desirable by customers (good enough). An industry that matters so much. With no backbone there is no network in so many places. Perhaps a few mergers will unlock the doors?