Telecommunications alliance deal

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

Trying to capitalize on the latest technical trends in the telecommunications industry, IBM plans to announce today an alliance intended to help communications carriers expand and revamp their networks, company executives said Monday.

IBM intends to announce that Alcatel of France, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks of Canada, Telcordia Technologies and Ulticom Inc. have all joined the initiative. Alcatel, Lucent and Nortel are among the world's biggest makers of communications equipment. Telcordia, which used to be controlled by regional Bell carriers and was known as Bellcore, provides network software and consulting services. Ulticom also provides software for communications networks.

Over the last few years, IBM has made strides to increase its role in the fast-growing telecommunications arena. The company has long provided systems to help communications carriers manage their customer databases and billing. More recently, however, IBM has moved to help carriers expand the services they deliver to their customers. This summer, for instance, IBM announced a partnership with Lucent to help communications companies build installations to manage Internet servers for corporate customers.

But the initiative to be announced today may be the most aggressive move yet in IBM's recent telecommunications offensive.