Lucent Selected to Provide SBC with Internet Protocol Gear
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday May 28, 9:00 am Eastern Time
Reuters Internet Report
Lucent to Provide SBC with Internet Protocol Gear
MURRAY HILL, N.J. (Reuters) - Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - News) on Tuesday announced a multiyear agreement to provide SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - News), the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, with equipment to offer Internet Protocol services.
Lucent, based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, said it was a multimillion-dollar contract but did not elaborate. The agreement runs just shy of five years. Internet Protocol (IP) is the common name given to a set of protocols developed to allow cooperating computers to share resources across a network.
The deal is part of a move by SBC, the dominant local phone company in the Midwestern and southwestern states, to begin offering in September a range of new central-office space, also called Centrex, capabilities.
The Lucent equipment will allow SBC to move from a circuit-switched network to a packet-based one, a Lucent spokeswoman said.
In a circuit-switched network, one line is connected through the entire phone conversation, while in a packet-based network the data is sent in bundles, or packets. The line does not have to be connected the entire time in a packet-based network, allowing for more efficient transmission of data.
With central office-based services, businesses can cut costs associated with buying and maintaining telecom equipment, protect against equipment obsolescence and cut down on the time and expense of moving or adding phone services for a changing work force, Lucent said.
SBC's new services will be available initially in Chicago, Hartford, Connecticut; Houston; Los Angeles and Sacramento, California, Lucent said. |
