Telica Buy Gives Lucent VoIP Edge

Lucent (LU Quote) may have bought a winning ticket to the VoIP lottery.

Sidelined until now in the great voice-over-Net race, Lucent suddenly has a strong shot at becoming the leader in advanced phone switching gear with its acquisition last month of Telica.

Analysts say Lucent is in a good position to capitalize on Telica's success at Verizon (VZ Quote) and, barring slip-ups, possibly win a fair share of switching upgrades from the nation's largest phone company. Obviously, making inroads at the biggest Bell could open doors for Lucent at all the big telcos as the phone industry looks to move toward more VoIP services.

The turnaround comes at a good time for Lucent. Though the company's wireless division has won some big contracts recently, investors have been disappointed by Lucent's struggles to revitalize its wired networking gear. ...