Lucent Technologies, Warren, NJ, has received an 18-month, $40 million purchase agreement from us xchange, a competitive local exchange carrier based in Grand Rapids, MI. The contract calls for the delivery of the switches, Synchronous Optical Network (Sonet) transmission equipment, and signal processing, data networking, communications software and power systems products us xchange requires to launch its network. The new carrier plans to offer local service in Indiana and Wisconsin in the fourth quarter of this year, with plans to expand to Illinois and Minnesota in the first quarter of next year. The Sonet products include Lucent?s slc 2000, dacs, ddm, and FT 2000 OC-48 Lightwave equipment.