Lucent revamp adds to job cull

Telecoms equipment maker restructures into two divisions

Lucent Technologies' latest restructuring is likely to lead to more job cuts, adding to the 8500 voluntary redundancies the firm announced earlier this month.

A representative confirmed that the telecoms equipment manufacturer would be restructuring into two divisions. The split will see a dedicated Wireless unit selling to wireless operators as well as a Wireline unit providing equipment for more traditional long-distance carriers and backbone infrastructure providers.

In 1997 Lucent was made up of 11 divisions, which were cut to four in 1999. The company has now reduced it further in an effort to streamline internally and counter the widening economic slowdown.

Peter Judge, directing analyst at Europe Infonetics Research, said: "After spinning off its enterprise business Lucent has become a pure telecoms equipment provider. This latest move is an accurate reflection of the telecoms sector.

"The changes they are making will cost a lot of money with things like severance pay to take into account. However, if they have the capital to put the process in action, now is a good time to do it."

Reducing the number of divisions will relieve overlap in Lucent's channel, Judge added.

In May Lucent combined its Switching Solutions Group and InterNetworking units and said earlier this month that it would outsource all but its largest service contracts to its resellers.