In 1996, AT&T spun off its Systems and Technology units, along with the famous Bell Laboratories, to form a new company named Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=LU)).
One of the primary reasons for the spinoff was to allow AT&T's equipment manufacturing business to profit from sales to competing telecommunications providers; these customers had previously shown reluctance at purchasing from a direct competitor. Bell Labs brought prestige to the new company, as well as the revenue from thousands of patents.
Lucent is active in the areas of traditional telephone switching, optical, data and wireless networking. They have completed several acquisitions, including a $24 billion purchase of Ascend Communications.
Diversity
Lucent received a 100% rating on the first Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign in 2002. They have maintained this rating in 2003 and 2004. In addition, the company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.
Lucent and three of the former Lucent employees agreed to settle the case without admitting or denying the allegations.
Lucent's statements were made after Lucent had agreed in principle to settle this case without admitting or denying the allegations concerning, among other things, the Winstar transaction.
Lucent's public statements undermined both the spirit and letter of its agreement in principle with the staff.
Lucent is the former Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm of AT&T that has spawned such telecommunications technologies as the T-1 circuit, digital signaling, and the Private Branch Exchange (PBX), upon which the majority of office telecommunications environments are currently run.
Lucent is seeing this convergence of voice, data, and Internet eat into its incumbent market as voice is only one component part of the new generation of networks.
All in all, not only did Lucent fail to manage its cash position to the detriment of its current shareholders, but also the analysts, whose job it is to serve as watchdogs for just these types of financial deterioration, did not notice or chose to ignore this problem.
Feeds |
Contact