Lucent and Cisco sign product deal


22 Jan 2003

Lucent Technologies, which employs 800 people in Ireland, and Cisco Systems have announced that Lucent will integrate and resell select Cisco packet data and media gateway products as part of Lucent’s mobile networking product offer for the mobile service provider market.

The multi-year, non-exclusive agreement between Cisco and Lucent will accelerate Lucent’s ability to bring end-to-end mobile data networking solutions to wireless operators worldwide.

It will also allow Cisco’s packet data and media gateway products to reach a broader segment of the market.

Under this global supply agreement, Lucent will integrate and resell the following Cisco packet data and media gateway products:

Cisco Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), which enables CDMA2000 operators to provide mobile data access to the internet, as well as corporate intranets and extranets; Cisco Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), which enables GSM and UMTS operators to optimise their networks to deploy high-quality mobile voice and data services and Cisco MGX8000 Media Gateway and ATM aggregation products, which allow mobile operators to provision voice-over-IP (VoIP) and voice-over-ATM (VoATM) service on their packet core networks.

“We believe the demand for high-speed mobile data and low-cost packet-based voice services, particularly in the business market, is the next big growth area for wireless service providers,” said Cindy Christy, chief operating officer for Lucent’s Mobility Solutions Group.

“We’re pleased to work with Lucent, a leader in the development of mobile networks, to help speed the introduction of high-speed data, voice and video services to the wireless world,” said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president, Corporate Development for Cisco.

Lucent Worldwide Services (LWS), in co-operation with Cisco, will provide a full suite of services including deployment (installation), engineering, support and maintenance for the products covered under the agreement.

In addition, Lucent will offer consulting and network design services and will be qualified as a global systems integrator for Cisco as a result of this agreement.

By Suzanne Byrne