Lucent CEO Expresses Optimism at SUPERCOMM

ATLANTA, June 3 -- Patricia F. Russo, chairman and CEO of Lucent Technologies, told an audience at SUPERCOMM yesterday that she is optimistic about the telecommunications industry recovery.

According to a SUPERCOMM press release, Russo said a key indicator of an impending recovery is that sharp declines in capital spending by companies seem to be abating. Russo said because overall economic conditions remain challenging and uncertain, service providers and suppliers need to go where the growth is in the near term, while providing actual services business customers will buy.

High-speed wireless networks fit that bill, Russo said. Lucent market research "suggests there clearly is an untapped revenue and profit opportunity" in high-speed wireless, she said, citing as an example the insurance industry, in which companies look to high-speed wireless networks to allow agents to file damage claims on the spot.

Security is another solution customers covet, she said. "Network security and survivability are major concerns, particularly in the post-9-11 era," Russo said. "Critical information has to be protected, whether the threat comes from hackers, viruses, natural disasters or terrorists. "Those are the things that people seem to be willing to pay for -- mobility, security, reliability, new services and efficiency."

Companies see holding the line on operating expenditures as the central means for holding the line on spending, she added: "I've never seen as much emphasis on OPEX."
Enhancing current networks is one way to help companies hold down costs, Russo said, citing a recent Lucent agreement to help BellSouth provide advanced metro optical technology for the carrier's multiservice pProvisioning platform. Lucent is providing its Metropolis DMX access multiplexer, a SONET system designed to increase network capacity and enable new revenue-generating, high-speed services in metro networks.

Another strategy for recovery is to form partnerships and alliances, she added, such as Lucent's May 5 partnership with Juniper Networks, formed to help service providers evolve their networks to full-service IP infrastructure.

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