Struggling telecommunications gear maker Lucent Technologies has signed a one-year, $90 million contract to provide optical networking systems and services to undersea fibre-optic cable provider TyCom Ltd.
The system is expected to be deployed by the third quarter of 2002.
Further ahead, the contract also gives Lucent, an American-based company employing around 700 people in Ireland, the opportunity to upgrade the systems at a cost of more than $50 million.
The system will be incorporated into TyCom's west coast routes in the United States, Japan and southern Europe and will extend to more than 6,000 kilometers