Lucent Wins Verizon Contract

A week after posting an unexpected third-quarter profit, Lucent has won a three-year contract to supply fiber-optic networking equipment to Verizon .

Specifically, the deal includes the company’s Metropolis DMX product portfolio and its LambdaUnite Multiservice Switch, which manages traffic from many access networks.

Mark Marchand, a Verizon spokesman, declined to release financial terms. In June, the New York regional carrier awarded a another contract for the same project to Fujitsu Network Systems, he said. Fujitsu’s telecom unit has been supplying Verizon and its predecessors for 20 years.

The Verizon deal comes just a week after the Murray Hill, N.J., telecom equipment maker posted a fourth-quarter profit — its first in three years.

The company’s CEO Patricia Russo said she sees increasing stability in the overall telecom market, with metro optical, voice-over IP and broadband access and wireless data transfer appearing the most promising.

The company was also pleased with the business its services group is winning overseas. For example, it recently won a deal to help rebuild Iraq’s telecom infrastructure.