Indeed, the Cerent 454 (Cisco ONS 15454) lives on, at least on eBay. For the after-parts market, for spare parts, or even for complete network elements (shelves fitted with plug-in modules) the Cerent 454 can be had for rock-bottom prices.
This is almost 20 years after the product was introduced to the American market.
When I checked out a couple of eBay postings in 2016, nine plug-in modules could be purchased for $190 [1]. Another offering included the ‘454’ shelf complete with the maximum of seventeen plug-ins for a paltry $250 [2].
At one point, a single ‘454’ shelf equipped with a typical 11-plug-in configuration (an OC-48 equipped with DS3s, say) ran for about $35,000 USD. That was the summer of 1998.
It was this little box – the Cerent 454 – the size of a microwave oven, that allowed Cerent to become “more valuable than such venerable American companies as Delta Air Lines, Occidental Petroleum, Archer Daniels Midland or Dow Jones & Co,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1999 [3].”
This is almost 20 years after the product was introduced to the American market.
When I checked out a couple of eBay postings in 2016, nine plug-in modules could be purchased for $190 [1]. Another offering included the ‘454’ shelf complete with the maximum of seventeen plug-ins for a paltry $250 [2].
At one point, a single ‘454’ shelf equipped with a typical 11-plug-in configuration (an OC-48 equipped with DS3s, say) ran for about $35,000 USD. That was the summer of 1998.
It was this little box – the Cerent 454 – the size of a microwave oven, that allowed Cerent to become “more valuable than such venerable American companies as Delta Air Lines, Occidental Petroleum, Archer Daniels Midland or Dow Jones & Co,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1999 [3].”
What will be the next great thing in telecommunications and who will introduce it?
[1] With these nine modules, a complete node could be made operational: A protected OC-48 terminal equipped with fourteen DS1 interfaces and the optional alarm interface card:
- (1) DS1 14
- (1) DS1-N 14
- (2) OC-48 IR 1310
- (2) TCC
- (2) XCVT
- (1) AIC
[3] Cerent was described as a “2 1/2-year-old outfit with fewer than 300 employees, revenues of $10 million and nonexistent profits suddenly become more valuable than such venerable American companies as Delta Air Lines, Occidental Petroleum, Archer Daniels Midland or Dow Jones & Co.”