Lucent Technologies officials have confirmed that the company will
discontinue its PathStar line of cable voice-over-Internet-protocol equipment
and that its cable-access division will be 'mainstreamed' with other Lucent
units.
Sources close to the situation said last week that Lucent's layoff plans,
which could eventually impact 16,000 workers, had taken a severe toll on the
number of people who worked on the PathStar line. That lack of support has also
hurt MSOs using Lucent's VoIP equipment, sources said.
Comcast Corp. is currently using PathStar gear for its VoIP trial in Union,
N.J., and Time Warner Cable, according to sources, has deployed the equipment
for its Portland, Maine, IP-telephony trial.
Time Warner Cable spokesman Mike Luftman declined to say which vendors the
MSO has tapped for its VoIP pilots. Earlier this month, the operator expanded
its VoIP strategy, launching another second-line, IP-telephony test to about
1,000 Road Runner customers in the Rochester, N.Y., area.
Another company, High Speed Access Corp., could also be impacted by Lucent's
decision.
HSA inked a deal last year to purchase up to $100 million in network
equipment and software from Lucent for IP-telephony services. HSA is currently
collaborating with Charter Communications Inc. on a cable IP-telephony trial in
Smyrna, Ga.
