Caron Carlson

Having let go more than 18,000 rank-and-file workers through voluntary and involuntary job cuts since January, Lucent Technologies Inc. is now focusing on reducing the number of managers, with more layoffs anticipated before months end. The cuts reflect a shift in strategy aimed at investors who are demanding less niche product promotion and more streamlined […]

Satellite technology as a WAN platform has always carried an aura of unfamiliarity and space-age connotations that have scared away enterprise customers. However, with the migration toward IP networking, more companies are looking at VSATs (very small aperture terminals), even where digital subscriber line or cable services are available, because of satellite technologys ubiquity, scalability […]

With all the troubles the typical DSL customer endures on the road to Internet connectivity, why would anybody want to deal with two digital subscriber line providers at the same time? For Brian Hauer, systems architect and IT manager at TechEmpower Inc., the answer is twofold: First, two DSL connections together are less expensive for […]

When Aspine USA Inc. merged with Ammtec Inc., of Tokyo, this winter, the small manufacturers operations expanded across several countries, making its spreadsheet/fax machine system of product collaboration and supply chain management inadequate. Not prepared to pay thousands of dollars a month for a traditional client/server or hosting solution, ASpine opted for a new online, […]

As carrier sales dry up and enterprise spending shrivels, struggling networking gear vendors such as Lucent Technologies Inc. and Alcatel S.A. are looking to new—or, in some cases, old—customers to help weather the economic downturn. But while the moves make clear what the vendors said they hope to get from new marketing programs and partnerships—namely, […]

For many years, telecommunications carriers have been talking about the promise of wireless technologies to deliver traditional services in addition to mobile telephony. The talk has not translated into action in the United States, however, where most spectrum assigned for fixed wireless services still lies fallow. But thats all about to change. Some of the […]

After five years of providers tantalizing customers with innovative services at low rates, the telecommunications industry is returning to an era of fewer providers and rising prices. Facing a dwindling pool of customers, however, telecom vendors are racing to ensure that the prevailing carriers sustain a level of innovation in the face of decreased competition. […]

With the telecommunications industrys rediscovered appreciation for profitability, return on investment and other bottom-line interests, vendors will take advantage of this weeks SuperComm conference in Atlanta to show providers how to offer differentiated services in the hope of increasing the revenue potential of each user. While it is not clear that customer demand is driving […]

Like many small-business owners, Doreen Mastandrea is eager to cut costs when she sees an opportunity. So when a friend told her in 1998 about a company called ServiSense Inc., which provides not only local and long-distance telephone service but also electric service, she didnt hesitate to sign up. “Any savings we can get, we […]

The potential acquisition of Lucent Technologies Inc. by French manufacturer Alcatel S.A. may not raise the regulatory red flags that slowed other recent international telecommunications mergers. But even if the deal were to breeze through Washington, it would not necessarily mean smooth sailing for customers. “Im sure all of our members have concerns to some […]