US telecoms equipment maker Lucent Technologies has signed a $5bn contract to supply Verizon Wireless with equipment, network management software, and services, the companies announced today.

The contract renews a 2001 deal between the two. Lucent shares rose nine cents to $3.47 in mid-day trading on the news. The deal is important for Lucent, which has seen sharply declining revenues since the telco overcapacity orgy of the late Nineties / early Millennium came to an end.

The deal includes $525m for network kit to expand Verizon's mobile high-speed data services. Verizon has said that it would spend up to $1bn to deliver data to mobile users at high speed, comparable to a broadband Internet connection, with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, which uses radio base stations to transfer data between the mobile user and the IP network.

Other effort will go towards improving coverage and capacity on Verizon's voice network. ®

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