Riverstone Networks Inc. last month said it has received a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for information on the company’s accounting practices as a possible prelude to a formal investigation. Riverstone said it intends to cooperate fully with the SEC’s request for information. Earlier in April, the company launched a search for a new CEO after Chairman Piyush Patel relinquished his role to CEO Romulus Pereira. Riverstone said the move was made so Pereira could focus on strategic direction rather than day-to-day operations. Riverstone has been looking to broaden its addressable markets from service providers.
More work for Russo
Lucent Technologies Inc. last month announced that chairman and CEO Pat Russo will take on the additional duties of chief operating officer (COO) when Bob Holder steps down this summer. Holder, who has served as Lucent COO since October 2001, is having his position eliminated following two years of wrenching corporate restructuring that slashed two-thirds of Lucent’s workforce and resulted in an SEC investigation and shareholder litigation. These events are the result of Lucent’s financial challenges following the resignation of then CEO Rich McGinn in October 2000 and the three-year slump on the telecom industry.
Ingate, Quick Eagle pair up
Ingate Systems AB and Quick Eagle Networks Inc. have assembled a package for customers looking to connect a branch or telecommuter office to a virtual private network (VPN) and protect it with a firewall. The deal pairs a 55Mbps Ingate Firewall 1200, which has VPN capabilities, with a Quick Eagle 4231 access router. The firewall supports Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which makes it simpler to set up the firewall to allow SIP-based IP phone calls and videoconferencing. The router has one T-1 port for connecting to the WAN. The list price of the bundle is US$1,900.