James Cope

While frame relay may be one of the most widely accepted ways of linking geographically dispersed corporate sites, MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS), a no-nonsense high-speed routing protocol, may be a technology whose time has come, thanks to better quality of service and lower implementation costs.

Embattled networking equipment vendor Lucent Technologies Inc. and contract manufacturer Celestica Inc. declined to comment yesterday on reports that they're negotiating a possible deal for Lucent to sell two of its manufacturing plants to Toronto-based Celestica.

The recent collapse of merger talks between financially troubled Lucent Technologies Inc. and telecommunications equipment rival Alcatel SA leaves Lucent facing an uncertain future and may have cost the company its best chance at a deal that would erase those doubts, according to analysts.

While equipment that supports 802.11a, the forthcoming 54Mbps wireless LAN standard, won't likely be available for deployment until sometime next year, one vendor has decided to jump in early, to the chagrin of its competitors.

Avaya Inc.

Telecommunications companies can better serve their customers and their own business interests by giving up the outdated concept of vertical integration, Marc Andreessen, chairman and co-founder of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Loudcloud Inc., told 300 people at the Forrester Telecom Forum Monday.

Providing broadband access to hotels and other multitenant facilities can be troublesome and expensive. That

Nortel Networks Corp. yesterday announced its strategy to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GE) over optical fibre to simplify network management and to speed traffic between the enterprise and long-haul optical connection points.