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

To: larry pollock who wrote (10338)	3/17/2001 5:54:54 PM
From: hdl	Respond to of 14638

after a day when dow is down 2% and nt is up 6%, perhaps you can let the man have a day of peace

To: larry pollock who wrote (10338)	3/19/2001 8:02:48 AM
From: larry pollock	Respond to of 14638

Lucent Wins $5 Billion Contract To Help Outfit Verizon Wireless March 19, 2001 By Dennis K. Berman and Andrea Petersen Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal NEW YORK -- Lucent Technologies Inc. on Monday announced a three-year, $5 billion contract to outfit Verizon Wireless with gear designed to significantly increase the capacity of the nation's largest wireless provider. The contract represents some welcome news for Lucent, Murray Hill, N.J., which is reeling from a series of operational and financial miscues. At 4 p.m. Friday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, shares in the telecommunications-equipment provider fell $1.05, or 9.5%, to $9.99, a 52-week low. With the Verizon contract, Lucent's largest wireless deal to date, Lucent will now supply 65% of Verizon's network, said Jim Brewington, group president of Lucent's Wireless Networks Group. Nortel Networks Corp. and Motorola Inc. provide the remainder of Verizon's network. Mr. Brewington thinks the contract, which had been in negotiations since August, could provide a morale boost to Lucent. "There's been some less than cheerful news about Lucent and the industry," Mr. Brewington said in an interview. "It's a gigantic win for us." The equipment, designed around a wireless transmission standard called CDMA 2000, will allow Verizon to double its capacity for voice calls over its existing wireless networks. It will also boost wireless transmission rates by as much as 10 times the current speed, to 144 kilobits per second. The gear will be installed across Verizon's nationwide network, both in existing markets and in markets where it was recently highest bidder for spectrum auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, was a huge spender in the auctions, shelling out $8.8 billion. "We will be growing out our network to satisfy this voracious appetite our customers have for additional usage," said Richard Lynch, Verizon Wireless's chief technology officer. The company said that in some regions such as New York and Los Angeles, network usage rates are more than doubling annually -- a rate greater than growth over the previous 10 years combined. The Lucent equipment will also allow Verizon to develop more next-generation wireless technologies, called 3G. Most wireless companies are spending billions on 3G in hopes that customers will pay for new services that 3G's higher speeds will enable, such as sending e-mail and zipping around the wireless Web at fast speeds, listening to streaming audio and viewing streaming video on their cell phones and other devices. Verizon Wireless said it will be deploying 3G technology later this year. Mr. Lynch said that Verizon Wireless and Lucent already are conducting a trial of the first phase of 3G technology in New Jersey. Write to Dennis K. Berman at dennis.berman@wsj.com and Andrea Petersen at andrea.peterson@wsj.com