Nortel Strikes First With Verizon Deal

Lucent's (LU Quote) past is coming back to haunt it again.

The big telecom-gear maker's failings at developing new switching gear proved costly once more Wednesday, as big customer Verizon (VZ Quote) tapped Nortel (NT Quote) for a critical network upgrade.

The nation's largest phone company said Wednesday that it intends to use Nortel's equipment to help convert its network to the voice-over-Internet protocol, or VoIP, standard that the market has lately grown so enamored of. The deal exposes a critical shortcoming in Lucent's failing to have a viable softswitch just when telcos are making big voice-on-the-Net plans. ...