Increased importance of computing networks to multinational banks and retailers opens new opportunities for telecom gear makers
PARIS (Reuters) - In the final year of his turnaround plan, Alcatel-Lucent's boss is pushing the telecom network gear maker to diversify its customer base by selling Internet equipment to large technology companies and multinational corporations.
Chief Executive Michel Combes' plan to put more emphasis on so-called edge and core routers that direct traffic on the Internet has allowed the company to set itself apart from traditional mobile rivals Ericsson and Nokia, and leads it into competition with U.S. networking giant Cisco.