NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Ciena Corp., the maker of network equipment for customers such as AT&T Inc., posted a $25.4 million fourth-quarter loss after telephone companies cut back on orders because of the economic recession.

The net loss was 28 cents a share, compared with a profit of $30.4 million, or 30 cents, a year earlier, Linthicum, Maryland- based Ciena said yesterday in a statement. Revenue fell 17 percent to $179.7 million in the quarter ended October 31, missing the $199.4 million average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

AT&T, the largest US telephone company and Ciena's biggest customer, may cut spending on wired equipment by as much as 10 percent next year, according to Nikos Theodosopoulos, an analyst with UBS AG in New York. Ciena makes fiber-optic gear, which helps provide faster download speeds.