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Technology Stocks : Nortel Networks (NT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bosco who wrote (3152)	8/3/1999 10:17:00 AM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14638

Nortel Strategy focuses on intelligence at the edge. Nortel heads full on toward convergence By John Rendleman, PC Week Online August 2, 1999 9:00 AM ET Nortel Networks Corp., long known as a provider of circuit-switched voice network equipment, is recasting itself as a new-age vendor of software-based voice and data convergence platforms. To complete the transformation, officials of the Brampton, Ontario, company say they'll dedicate some 250 software engineers and several hundred million dollars to the task of developing more versatile switching products within the next several months. "We're working on software that will provide services for the network itself and to provide intelligence all the way down to the network device" on a user's desk, said Debbie Bourland, vice president of global services within the Carrier Solutions unit at Nortel. Sign of the times Nortel's changes mirror industry trends. Most voice and data service providers, such as Qwest Communications International Inc. and Level 3 Communications Inc., have implemented ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) backbone networks for raw data capacity, with new voice and data services based entirely on server-based software intelligence deployed at the network edge. As a result, Nortel's focus is now on the creation of network services platforms, access technologies and customer care solutions tied in with its server-based services platforms. For enterprise customers, the movement to IP and ATM at the carrier core is inevitable, but the shift will require intelligent allocation of network resources. The technology for enterprises "is not there yet, and if you implement it, you're kind of doing it on your own," said Lynn Haney, communications manager at Ranger Insurance Co., in Houston. "But once the infrastructure is in place, it will provide a great opportunity for users," Haney said, referring to her own company's mixed-network infrastructure of IP and legacy SNA traffic. Nortel has begun customer trials of its new software platforms.