In what looks like a kick in the teeth for its own Inferno operating system, Lucent Technologies Inc is set to announce today that it has chosen Paris-based Chorus Systemes SA’s Chorus/OS for use company-wide as the internal operating system for its next generation of access and transmission products. Lucent plans to use the real-time operating system in its distributed multiprocessor and real-time systems, in order to provide flexibility and scalability in transporting speech, data and video, said Lee Stecher, Lucent’s software development director. Neither company would divulge the financial terms of the contract, but Chorus says it represents significant revenues over the next few years. Chorus said the deal is evidence that a growing number of telecommunications equipment manufacturers are adopting Chorus/OS because it enables them to base all their switching and applications software on the same operating system. They include Alcatel-Alsthom SA, Bosch Telecom GmbH, France Telecom, Matra Communication SA, Nokia Oy and Northern Telecom Ltd. Chorus says it is working with other manufacturers it is unable to identify. Nobody at Lucent was available to say why Inferno was not chosen as we went to press. But Lucent chief executive Richard McGinn admitted recently to Upside magazine that Inferno, as good as it is, faces a real battle in terms of mind-share; my only wish is that I knew about [it] earlier.