Telecommunications-equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent and technology vendor Hewlett- Packard Co. have signed a 10-year partnership to develop and market communications and computing products, as both firms look for new areas of growth as companies and consumers reduce spending on technology.
Alcatel-Lucent also will outsource the management of its computing systems to HP, transferring about 1,000 workers to HP as a result. The Paris-based firm declined to say how much it would save with the move, but chief executive Ben Verwaayen has made cutting costs a priority since taking over the unprofitable telecom- gear firm last September.
For California-based HP, the deal will allow it to package its software and services along with telecom-network gear without having to invest massively in a new area.
Alcatel-Lucent and HP say the deal could bring in “billions of euros” in revenue over the next decade.
The alliance comes at a time when the world’s telecommunications infrastructure is changing rapidly to accommodate much higher flows of video and data. In the past, telecom networks consisted mostly of switches that transported voice calls around the world. Today, telecom networks are going digital — with computers and software built throughout them — to accommodate images, streaming video and music.
