As expected, Lucent this week announced it will resell Cisco routers to mobile network operators.

Under the three-year, non-exclusive arrangement, Lucent will resell Cisco's:

• Packet Data Serving Node, which enables CDMA2000 operators to provide mobile data access to the Internet, as well as corporate intranets and extranets

• Gateway GPRS Support Node, which enables GSM and UMTS operators to deploy high-quality mobile voice and data services

• MGX8000 Media Gateway and ATM aggregation products, which allow mobile operators to provision voice-over-IP and voice-over-ATM service on their packet core networks
  

Lucent Worldwide Services, in cooperation with Cisco, will also provide a suite of services including deployment, engineering, support and maintenance for the products covered under the agreement. In addition, Lucent will offer consulting and network design services and will be qualified as a global systems integrator for Cisco.

Lucent announced plans to establish partnerships in IP/MPLS after killing its MPLS core switch, the TMX 880, as part of a product restructuring late last year. Lucent is expected to soon announce a similar agreement with Juniper Networks for wireline applications.

"This announcement is an example of Lucent's strategy to focus on our core strengths while partnering with other industry leaders when it makes sense, allowing us to bring our customers the most competitive solutions available," a Lucent spokesman says. "It fills several gaps in our wireless product portfolio and brings together the best of both worlds: Lucent's industry-leading expertise in wireless networking and Cisco's IP networking leadership."

Lucent is a leading supplier of CDMA gear to mobile wireless operators.