This week Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU) will announce that it has struck an agreement with Movaz Networks Inc., according to sources close to both companies. The deal gives Lucent some much needed WDM technology, and gives Movaz a crack at Lucent's Tier 1 customer base.

Sources say the three-year deal has Lucent integrating Movaz's RAYexpress DWDM technology into its Metropolis line of multiservice provisioning platforms (MSPPs).

The logic of the deal is easy enough to follow: Lucent's customers had a technology need that Lucent couldn't fill and didn't have time to develop itself. At the same time, Lucent can't afford to buy the expertise it needs by purchasing a startup.

"This is the kind of thing that doesn't guarantee the business, but it doesn't cost [Lucent] anything either," observes analyst Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects.

Besides attempting to satisfy a customer or two, Lucent's decision to use Movaz's technology also appears to be a defensive move, giving Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/Toronto: NT) and Alcatel SA (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGEP:PA) one less nit to pick while competing against Lucent in big accounts.

Two carriers that sources say may have pushed Lucent to shore up its WDM technology, by means of an optical request for proposal (RFP), are SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS). BellSouth announced last year that it was upgrading its Sonet infrastructure with gear from Lucent and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO). And its not surprising to hear that the big carriers are looking to make their transport networks more efficient (see Integrating WDM & Sonet/SDH).

The agreement is a nice one for Movaz, as well. Earlier this week, Movaz talked up its deployment at MCI (Nasdaq: WCOEQ, MCWEQ). The startup also has a reseller deal in place with Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), which markets Movaz’s RAY product suite as the Motorola Multiservice Wavelength Transport.

Lucent and Movaz declined to comment for this story.

— Phil Harvey, News Editor, Light Reading