Alcatel plans to acquire Telera Corp. for $136 million in stock. The acquisition, which is expected to close in July, will give Alcatel the means to provide enterprises and telecommunications providers solutions that translate Internet content over the telephone.
Telera, based in Campbell, Calif., provides a voice-Web platform using voice extensible markup language to make Web content accessible by the telephone.
Telera will become a part of Alcatel’s Genesys contact center software business and initially will focus on the market for voice self-service solutions. Alcatel said it would use $30 million of Telera’s cash to fund the company’s development.
“Voice access to the Internet will be the spark for a powerful transformation in the way the Web is used and in the consumer services that are made available by enterprises and service providers,” said Olivier Houssin, president of Alcatel’s eBusiness Group, in a statement Wednesday. “The acquisition of Telera … is a critical link in our strategy to build the applications that will drive the transition to converged voice and data networks.”
Alcatel said Qwest Communications International Inc. and contact center services provider, First Data/Call Interactive, already have selected Telera’s Voice Web Application Platform as a foundation for numerous next-generation voice services.
