A tale of two telco’s

Lucent has set the standard when it comes to the commercialisation ofintellectual property portfolios in the telecom sector. The revenues thecompany generate still dwarf those of its rivals. But increased competition,combined with high levels of debt and the need to fund further innovation,mean that others are now trying to get in on the act. One aggressivenewcomer is BT, which has created structures and employs methods thatdiffer markedly from Lucent’s established model. By Joff Wild