Cerent

Cerent Corporation was a California-based supplier of optical networking equipment for telecommunications carriers. The company developed high-capacity optical transport systems that supported SONET/SDH and DWDM technologies, enabling long-haul and metro networks to scale bandwidth and efficiency.

Founded in the mid-1990s, Cerent emerged as a notable entrant in the growing market for all-optical networks, providing hardware and software for carrier-grade transport platforms. Its products were aimed at service providers seeking to expand network capacity and improve performance across backbone and access networks.

In 1999, Cisco Systems announced its acquisition of Cerent for about seven billion dollars, one of the largest deals in the networking industry at the time. The acquisition created Cisco’s first sizable optical networking business and brought Cerent’s technology and engineering talent into the Cisco portfolio. After the merger, Cerent’s products were integrated into Cisco’s optical networking line, and the Cerent brand was retired in favor of Cisco branding. The deal helped Cisco establish a foothold in the optical transport market and influenced the development of Cisco’s ONS product family.

Legacy and impact: Cerent’s acquisition contributed to a broader consolidation trend in the telecommunications equipment sector during the late 1990s and helped accelerate the deployment of advanced optical networks. The underlying technologies and teams from Cerent played a role in shaping Cisco’s later optical networking offerings.