Crane deal to lift NEC

Hopes to become a top-three IP telephony supplier in Europe

NEC is hoping to become a top-three supplier of IP telephony in Europe following an exclusive distribution deal with voice and data convergence distributor Crane Telecommunications.

Crane is now looking for dedicated VARs to sell NEC's range of IP-enabled PBXs, which can be upgraded to IP when required.

Jonathan Rigg, business manager corporate network sales at NEC, said the vendor's main targets are Avaya and Nortel. According to analyst EuroLAN Research, Alcatel, Siemens and Nortel lead the UK market.

Crane already deals in Avaya and LG voice over IP products, and hopes the NEC deal will expand its coverage. "Our range accounts for 20 per cent of the UK IP telephony market. With NEC we hope to break into the other 80 per cent," said Martin Northend, NEC's product director at Crane.

Richard Laval, technical manager at reseller Hydra, said NEC has not been a big player in the past. "NEC has a lot of expertise in voice networks, but it does not have an installed base of end-users," he said. "The channel can help it get this."