![[McGinn pic]](/gif/1229mcginn.gif)
After a legacy as AT&T's voice equipment arm, Lucent has set its sights on
data networking and Rich McGinn is pulling the trigger.
The company's latest move into data networking came three weeks ago, when it acquired Gigabit Ethernet start-up Prominet Corp. for $200 million. In September, Lucent was one of seven companies that invested in Juniper Networks, a start-up developing high-speed routers for the Internet core. Lucent acquired LAN switch vendor Agile Networks, Inc. last year, and partnered with Bay Networks to fill out its multimedia vision.
The company's numbers aren't too shabby either. Lucent recorded a 42.5% increase in earnings per share to 57 cents for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997. Revenues increased 17.2% over the same quarter of a year ago, and revenues from Lucent's three core businesses - systems for network operators, business communications systems and microelectronics - increased 19.4%.
Analysts now believe Lucent is poised to devote serious resources to ATM future growth on data networking.
McGinn will be the one to decide just how serious those resources are, and where and how they will be used. He will be the one banking the company's future growth on data networking.
