Lucent's Golden Child?Lucent's Golden Child?

Lucent Technologies isn't doing too well in the financial markets, but one of its offspring just landed $45 million.

Wireless technology developer Flarion Technologies was spun off two years ago with seed funding from Lucent's New Ventures Group, among others. Flarion has developed an all-IP wireless data-transmission technology, and it will use this latest round of funding to launch RadioRouter base stations, modems, and integrated circuits next year. The company touts the products as an alternative to the third-generation wireless technologies still in the development stage.

Flarion plans to market its technology based on its more-efficient use of the wireless transmission spectrum. Alan Kuritsky, VP of marketing for Flarion, predicts that wireless service providers using Flarion could offer unlimited-use mobile data services in the $40-a-month range, because it uses existing airwaves more efficiently. It might also enable richer wireless Web access, because information could be delivered from the Internet without the dumbing down now needed to fit through low-bandwidth wireless networks.