Nortel: Nortel Completes World's Longest 100G Trials With Telstra

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 4, 2009) - Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications carrier, has successfully completed the first 100 gigabits per second (100G) trial over an unprecedented 2,038 kilometer stretch of its existing fibre optic network using innovative, high-speed optical transport technology from Nortel(1) (OTCBB:NRTLQ).

The trial, conducted in July this year, also successfully tested 40 gigabits per second (40G) transport over 3,370 kilometers of fiber between the Australian cities of Sydney and Adelaide. Both 40G and 100G trials are believed to be the longest unregenerated distances ever successfully attempted using the technologies, and demonstrate Nortel's capacity to deliver one of the most cost-effective high-speed broadband transport solutions available today. The solution can position operators like Telstra to increase customer satisfaction through lower costs to the end-user, and can provide the opportunity to deliver a wider range of managed applications and services.

"The success of the trial builds on Nortel's leading 40G technology and we are proud that Telstra has given us the opportunity to prove in a real network what others are only talking about regarding 100G," said Anthony McLachlan, vice president, Carrier Networks, Nortel Asia. "During the trial, the Nortel 100G solution allowed Telstra to redefine the value of its extensive fibre infrastructure with a tenfold increase in capacity - compared to that of existing 10G networks - and made the Telstra infrastructure the fastest of its kind globally over anywhere near this distance."

"These trials with Nortel demonstrate that our existing network is capable of transporting even larger amounts of network traffic without incurring the cost of major equipment and infrastructure upgrades," said Michael Rocca, managing director, Networks & Services Group, Telstra. "Of course, they also contribute to the development of technology that will eventually benefit not only Australian consumers but also the worldwide telecommunications industry."

The key behind the successful trials is Nortel's Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology, and specifically Nortel innovations such as advanced digital signal processing with coherent detection, and superior Forward Error Correction (FEC). These technologies allow service providers like Telstra to migrate to 40G and 100G technology using their existing 10G network infrastructure.

"10G components are readily available, cost effective and field proven, and our technology allows carriers to extend their substantial investments in their 10G networks with a cost-effective upgrade to 40G and 100G," said McLachlan. "This opens up a new world of rich, interactive services such as high-definition videoconferencing, managed storage and disaster recovery services, allowing carriers to generate new revenue from their networks and reduce their ongoing operating costs in the process."

About Nortel

Nortel delivers communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at [ www.nortel.com ]. For the latest Nortel news, visit [ www.nortel.com/news ].

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "targets", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and the actual outcome may be materially different from those contemplated in forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on Form10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

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Nortel: Nortel Completes World's Longest 100G Trials With Telstra