Procket enters Lucent IP stakes

Start-up Procket Networks has joined Juniper as a "serious contender" for Lucent's wireline IP core and edge router resale business, according to a bulletin distributed Tuesday by investment firm Pacific Growth Equities.

Lucent was expected to name Juniper as its source for wireline IP edge and core routing products later this quarter. Lucent has already pegged Cisco to provide IP routing products for Lucent to resell to wireless operators.

While Pacific Growth does not believe that Juniper has been eliminated from Lucent's candidate list, they note that privately-help Procket has technology compelling enough to gain serious consideration. If Lucent does in fact choose Procket, Procket will instantly gain global distribution and credibility as a vendor, according to Pacific Growth.

"While Juniper was well positioned to win the agreement, we believe that in recent months Procket has effectively demonstrated to Lucent that its technology is operational and that Procket's products provide superior performance," the Pacific Growth bulletin states.

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Start-up Procket Networks has joined Juniper as a "serious contender" for Lucent's wireline IP core and edge router resale business, according to a bulletin distributed Tuesday by investment firm Pacific Growth Equities.

Lucent was expected to name Juniper as its source for wireline IP edge and core routing products later this quarter. Lucent has already pegged Cisco to provide IP routing products for Lucent to resell to wireless operators.

While Pacific Growth does not believe that Juniper has been eliminated from Lucent's candidate list, they note that privately-help Procket has technology compelling enough to gain serious consideration. If Lucent does in fact choose Procket, Procket will instantly gain global distribution and credibility as a vendor, according to Pacific Growth.

"While Juniper was well positioned to win the agreement, we believe that in recent months Procket has effectively demonstrated to Lucent that its technology is operational and that Procket's products provide superior performance," the Pacific Growth bulletin states.

Juniper, meanwhile, will miss an opportunity to tap a channel into incumbent local exchange carriers and regional Bell operating companies. Juniper has already landed a core IP router deal with BellSouth, but the three other RBOCs are also issuing requests for proposal for potentially lucrative IP buildouts.

A Juniper spokesperson says the company doesn't comment on "rumors." A Lucent spokesperson offered the same statement.

Procket says it is "not ready to talk about it."

Procket was founded in 1999. The company is building an array of high-performance IP routing devices for access, edge and core applications in service provider networks. These products are in trials with 15 to 20 global carriers, the company claims. Procket has raised $272 million.

Lucent announced plans to establish partnerships in IP/MPLS after killing its MPLS core switch, the TMX 880, and its SpringTide IP services switch in a product line restructuring late last year.