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Chapter 653 The Transformation of Bell Labs

Redwood City, the new research and development base of Bell Labs.

The original plan was that the first phase of construction would be completed in May, allowing some experimental departments to move in gradually and alleviate the office pressure on the temporary headquarters.

However, Leon Chandler, the contractor, adhered to the principle that Ernst's project was God's and had to be completed in advance.

The project utilized optimal resources and the highest efficiency during construction. As early as March, two months before the original delivery date, the first phase of the project was completed ahead of schedule, with only some finishing touches remaining.

According to the assessment of the engineering and technical personnel, the entire first phase site will be fully ready for occupancy in less than half a month, and Bell Labs will officially start the relocation process and fully move into this new base that carries the future of Bell Labs.

It should have been a good thing, but lately, Carl Weller's face showed no joy, and his brows were filled with lingering irritability.

In a simple building next to the new R&D base, which was originally a temporary office set up by the construction team.

But now, they have been temporarily requisitioned by Bell Labs personnel.

Two elderly men with graying hair were exchanging heated words across the conference table, their tone highly charged.

Carl Weller, seated at the head of the table, frowned deeply, his temples throbbing, his headache written all over his face.

To his left, a man in his forties seemed out of place in the atmosphere.

Dressed in a suit and tie, looking every bit the successful man, he leisurely sipped a cup of coffee, calmly watching the argument unfold before him, his face displaying an indifferent detachment, even a hint of detached amusement.

"Lille, I think this matter should be decided by you." Carl Weller finally lost his temper, and with one sentence, he stopped the two old men who had been arguing, and their eyes turned to Lil Clayson in unison.

Their eyes held an undisguised sharpness and a sense of oppression, like two invisible blades aimed directly at each other.

His face seemed to radiate an aura of ferocity and menace.

"Me?" Lil Clayson calmly put down his coffee cup, pointed to himself, and then shook his head. "No, I'm just an equipment seller. This is a problem for Bell Labs, and it's not my place to interfere."

"Inconvenient to intervene?" Carl Weller's voice suddenly rose, tinged with barely suppressed anger. "But the reason they're arguing is because of the research task assigned by your Bell Equipment Manufacturing Company."

Faced with Carl Weller's questioning, Lil Clayson remained unmoved, his tone calm to the point of indifference: "So what?"

"If Bell Labs believes this task is beyond its capabilities, or is unwilling to undertake it, I can find someone else."

"No way!" Almost the instant Lil Clayson finished speaking, the two old men, who had been at odds just moments before, shouted in unison, unusually joining forces.

Then Schultz, the head of the communications department, turned to Nigel Hearst, the head of the basic materials department, his face unfriendly and his tone full of impatience, "Nigel, don't push your luck! Our communications department is leading this HFC broadband project, and giving you a 10% share of the profits is already a favor, considering we're both departments at Bell Labs."

"A ten percent profit? Ha!" Nigel Hearst let out a mocking laugh as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, then retorted defiantly, "Without the technological breakthroughs in core materials by our basic materials department, could your hybrid fiber-coaxial cable broadband project have progressed smoothly?"

"That's a ridiculous breakthrough," Schultz nearly spat in his face. "No matter how the materials are improved, it's essentially just fiber optics plus coaxial cable; the basic materials haven't changed at all."

On the other side, Nigel Hearst wanted nothing more than to smash the coffee cup on his face. "Am I supposed to create a completely new material for you?"

After saying that, he sat down, looking like a deadbeat. "I don't care, I want 50% of the profits, otherwise your communications department can forget about continuing the experiment. We can't possibly cooperate with you to improve the materials according to your requirements."

"Fifty percent?" Upon hearing this number, Schultz's voice instantly turned shrill and grating, like a duck's hoot. "You might as well just rob someone! Or you could just rob Ernst; that would make you money much faster and save you the trouble of haggling with me here!"

"Ahem." Sitting down, Lil Clayson coughed lightly, thinking to himself, "Can't you use someone else as an analogy? Why do you have to use your own boss?"

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he quickly picked up the coffee cup on the table, hid most of his face behind the cup, and pretended to be focused on tasting his coffee, avoiding their gaze.

He didn't want to mess with these stubborn old men from Bell Labs, or he'd be in big trouble.

These scientists are all highly skilled professionals, but they are also incredibly stubborn and have incredibly fiery tempers.

More importantly, they were all the darlings of the big boss Ernst, and the core assets of Bell Labs.

If this becomes their outlet for anger, they'll get beaten up and have nowhere to complain.

This is why he tries to please everyone and doesn't want to get involved in their conflict.

My arms and legs are too weak to take a beating.

As for Karl Weller, who was sitting in the main seat, he could be summed up in two words: mentally exhausted.

It's even more exhausting than dealing with his newlywed wife who is much younger than him.

Think back to when Bell Labs was managed by Telephone & Telegraph Corporation or Lucent Technologies, when did such a scene ever occur?

What tasks were assigned from above?

He received the task sheet, and without even glancing at it, he threw it directly into the wastebasket.

Now, all sorts of departments are vying to come here.

The ability of the heads of various departments at Bell Labs to secure the largest possible distribution of benefits for their departments is now the basic measure of their competence.

That's all.

Just one word.

It's all about money.

This year's R&D funding has been allocated, with a total budget of $11 billion.

It's not that wealthy, but it's a huge improvement compared to when I was at Lucent.

Ernst kept his promise when he acquired Bell Labs, providing the lab with no less than $10 billion in research and development funding each year.

Finally, everyone can stop eating porridge and pickled vegetables and have a couple of stir-fries!

But when I turned around, I saw that some people were eating big meals and drinking alcohol.

If we were to name the two departments at Bell Labs with the most funding this year, one would be the Optics and Quantum Electronics Department, whose head, Schent, seems to float around every day.

Without it.

Starlight Technology's profits have been distributed, and Bell Labs will receive $4160 million.

According to regulations, half of this amount must be given to the optics and quantum electronics departments that contributed the technology, and the other half will be given to Bell Labs and included in the total R&D budget.

Another one is the communications department.

The communications department was originally the core department of Bell Labs, with the most staff and the largest annual budget.

Now they even have extra income, and the amount is enormous.

One full-wave fiber optic cable and one Cat5e network cable.

The products developed by these two Bell Labs at Ernst's request, and thanks to Continental Telecom's dedicated line from Chicago to Wall Street, have become the hard currency of the telecommunications industry.

The price is cheap, but the amount used is too large.

Bell Equipment Manufacturing, the company responsible for production, received orders exceeding $6 million in less than a month at the end of last year.

Orders are currently booked up for eight months ahead, and we're constantly expanding our factory and adding production lines.

Moreover, now if you want to place a pre-order, you must pay in full, otherwise they won't even look at you.

Although expanding the production line required a significant investment, Ernst allocated a portion of the funds as bonuses to incentivize Bell Labs' researchers.

Bell Labs received $8400 million according to its shareholding, while the communications division received $4100 million.

While the full-wave fiber optic and Cat5e network cables were still generating profits over there, Lille arrived in Redwood City.

In a word.

There's a fat sheep out there, shall we go for it?

Isn't that just nonsense?

Then Lille assigned them the task: an experimental project on HFC broadband, or coaxial broadband.

If the experiment succeeds, not only will mainland China Telecom be their client, but MGM will also become their client after acquiring and integrating the channel providers.

This time it's not just about selling equipment, but about providing a complete solution.

In other words, you have to buy some of my equipment from me.

Even if I don't have the equipment, you still have to buy it from me so I can process the meat and leave the oil.

For Ernst, it didn't matter whether the price was right or not; he just transferred the money from one hand to the other.

But this deal was worthwhile; neither China Telecom nor MGM were his companies alone.

Being ripped off by equipment vendors is something we all experience together.

He understands the financial implications of owning Bell Labs and Bell Equipment, which generate revenue for the company.

Schultz and Nigel are exchanging insults because of this.

Because Nigel saw an opportunity and wanted to take a bite.