Bell Labs: Reviving an icon

THE ROAD AHEAD

Pat Russo, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, said she has always recognized the value of basic research and, more specifically, its value to Bell Labs. It is a unique entity in the industry and has driven innovation for its parent company more than any other company's research arm. As her company has faced financial troubles, Russo said she's tried to preserve Bell Labs even as she's been forced to cut its budget.

“The place you don't go is to kill all of the innovation in the company,” Russo said. “We made some hard choices. We had to look at the critical mass of the company, but we made sure when we were reshaping and reducing that we prioritized research. … Would I have liked to have spent more? Sure. We made some hard decisions in basic research. They were not perfect, but we managed it really well.”

But after all of the restructuring, the cuts in staff and funding, the pressure from product divisions, and the shift to applied science, is Bell Labs still the engine of science it was 30 years ago? Simply put, is Bell Labs still relevant?

Its research is more disciplined and the areas it focuses on are much narrower, but important scientific research still happens at Murray Hill. Bell Labs still attracts and retains top researchers. It still continues to earn accolades. As Arno Penzias said, Bell Labs works on a smaller scale today. It works within a more refined context, but that doesn't diminish the work still being done.

Perhaps the question is unfair. Bell Labs was the product of a monopoly environment. It prospered under AT&T's umbrella in a market devoid of competition. Bell Labs wasn't expected to make money; it was expected to perform brilliant feats of science. It would be unreasonable to expect a commercial company such as Alcatel-Lucent to maintain that kind of commitment to fundamental research in a highly competitive environment, especially considering the often tenuous link between scientific innovation and commercial success.

Bell Labs has managed to keep much of its culture intact, but no one there is under the illusion that the sheer scale and scope of Bell Labs' work before deregulation will return. Few people could argue that AT&T's breakup wasn't ultimately positive, but in some ways, the Bell Labs of old may be the last remaining argument for monopoly.