Tellabs, the Shannon-based supplier to the telecommunications market, has announced a $100 million (£66.7 million) multi-year purchase agreement with Sprint, one of the largest US long-distance telephony carriers. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, Tellabs will supply its AN2100 Gateway Exchange technology which has been developed by 100 engineers in Shannon.

This is the Irish company's largest order to date. It is a subsidiary of US corporation, Tellabs which designs, manufactures, markets and services voice and data transport and network access systems.

The Irish operation employs 325 staff and recently moved to a 130,000 sq ft facility to focus on manufacturing the AN2100 using high-speed surface mount technology.