Lucent wins over SBC with new 5E-XC switch

Despite reports of the demise of class 5 switch sales, Lucent Technologies will announce today it has beefed up capacity, cut down size and power consumption and has a contract with SBC Communications. SBC is rolling out the new equipment for commercial service early next year, according to industry sources.

The new switch is Lucent’s first big improvement to the 5E in 10 years and boosts capacity by a factor of three while it is one-twelfth the size, according to Dave Geary, vice president and general manager of Lucent’s Convergence Solutions Group.

“There’s no disputing voice services are a top industry source of revenue and profit,” Geary said. “Customers are keen on that.”

The new switch gives them the ability to protect their investment, offer new services and take an evolutionary approach to upgrades, according to Geary.

SBC is using the equipment to interconnect with wireless and long distance providers in its local network. The provider had been experimenting with the equipment for over a year.

The improvements made to create the 5E-XC can be deployed as a completely new switch or components of them can be used to upgrade existing 5ESS switches. SBC is deploying both the new switches and upgrading existing ones.

The new optical interface unit (OIU) is also able to support ten times the amount of trunks per rack and uses 40% less power, Geary said.

The equipment is currently commercially available.