Lucent Wins $50M Services Deal

Telecom equipment maker Lucent has landed $50 million in new contracts to upgrade and integrate voice and data networks at Army bases in North America and Asia.

Lucent will provide the Army with services, including planning, design, implementation and operations during the project, as well as maintenance, program management and engineering services after.

The Murray Hill, N.J., company will also integrate the beefed up network into the existing multi-vendor system currently in place with the Army.

John Meyer, president of Lucent’s services arm said, “(The deal) is a milestone development for our services business as we work to transform Lucent into becoming a leading network integrator for service providers and government entities.”

The pact extends a longstanding relationship between the organizations. Lucent (and its predecessor) has worked on the Army’s Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) for more than 10 years.

Lucent recently completed work at several Army installations. The remaining work is expected to run through 2006.

In other Lucent news, the company launched its VitalSuite Network Management software release 9.1 for enterprise and service provider network managers. The announcement was made at the TeleManagement World trade show in Nice, France.

The software’s tools help improve network performance, reduce network downtime and increase service by flagging potential problems before they impact service to users. Vanco, a virtual network operator, is testing the software.