Data Shorts

Lucent teams with Hypercom Lucent Technologies is turning to Hypercom Network Systems for voice, data and fax traffic integration. The two companies announced an agreement last week in which Lucent will resell Hypercom's Integrated Enterprise Network line of products to customer locations that need to support multiprotocol traffic over a single connection such as frame relay. Lucent has similar agreements with other vendors, including Cisco Systems, Bay Networks and Ascom Timeplex.

MCI offers fast packets for lower prices MCI is trying to simplify its frame relay service by restructuring its pricing scheme. Earlier this month, MCI changed its HyperStream frame relay service pricing by lowering permanent virtual circuit usage minimums and fixed rates. The new pricing is designed to let MCI customers add frame relay permanent virtual circuit connections for rates as low as $5 per circuit in some cases. Under the new pricing plan, higher committed information rates are also expected to be more economical.