Paul Mankiewich, the CTO for wireless products at Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), has left the company, Light Reading has learned.

And our sources say that retirement may have been precipitated by AlcaLu's new strategy, as initiated by the company's CEO, Ben Verwaayen.

"I've been with the company for 28 years, and in that time worked with some great people and worked on some very interesting projects in which I take great pride," states Mankiewich in a prepared statement. "Now I think it's a good time to try something new. I plan to take some time off, and then expect to be moving into the next phase of my career."

The many Web biographies of Paul Mankiewich show him as having worked at Lucent, now Alcatel-Lucent, in various capacities. He's worked in nearly every technical facet of the wireless networks product group and was also "responsible for integrating Bell Labs innovation into the mobility products," according to a bio archived by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 's Website.

Throughout his career at Lucent, as its CTO and its top Mobility Solutions technology executive, Mankiewich and his team set the technology direction for mobile, optical, switching, and data networking, working on standards, network architectures, end-to-end solutions, product strategies, and roadmaps.

AlcaLu sources say the company will appoint a replacement CTO for wireless products.

We'll have more reporting on the specifics of his departure and what it means for Alcatel-Lucent in the coming days.

— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, and Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading