Lucent buys Ascend for $24bn

Networks Barrault appointed as senior vice president of INS arm in billion dollar merger.

Lucent Technologies has completed its $24 billion acquisition ofin billion dollar merger. Ascend Communications, detailing plans for the merged entity, which will be unveiled within the next 100 days.

Last week, the networking vendor said it had combined Ascend's remote access, core switching and network management products with Lucent's data networking products and services to form the InterNetworking Systems (INS) division.

Franaois Barrault, former EMEA senior vice president of Ascend, has been named as international senior vice president of the Lucent INS division.

Rod Randall, executive vice president of INS marketing at Lucent, said Ascend products would immediately start being re-branded with the Lucent name.

He added that jointly developed products, many the result of an earlier OEM agreement between Lucent and Ascend, would be released later this year.

Frank Pipe, UK managing director of the global service provider (GSP) group at Lucent, said the vendor was committed to preserving Ascend's reseller base.

He added that Lucent would expand the indirect sales opportunities for its legacy product line.

Pipe commented: 'Lucent has recognised the need to increase its indirect channel involvement and one of my responsibilities since taking this position last year has been to make sure that happens locally. We are looking to make products more accessible and easier for dealers to sell.'

It is understood more than 95 per cent of GSP products are sold direct.

Pipe claimed the merger would benefit existing Ascend partners, giving them a broader range of products to sell to customers.

He pledged Lucent would expand its training and accreditation schemes to help all partners fully leverage the post-merger family of products.

Meanwhile, Lucent is boosting its directory and computer telephony products with the acquisition of CCOM Information Systems last week. The products will combine CCOM's gateway middleware with the meta directory developments of its research and development operation, Bell Labs. The range aims to help companies manage their network directories.

Based in Iselin, New Jersey, CCOM was founded in 1989 and employs 10 people. The company will join Lucent's business communications systems group.