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BOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS--(Marketwire - Dec. 16, 2009) -

Editors Note: 2 photos are included with this Press Release.

Lightower Fiber Networks, a leading metro fiber network and bandwidth service provider serving the northeast United States, has successfully tested the use of 100G technology on its existing optical network. Conducted over a period of four days using Nortel's* (OTCBB:NRTLQ) commercially available 100G solution, Lightower sent production network traffic error-free over a 100G link spanning 600 kilometers from New York to Boston.

Earlier this year, Lightower [ upgraded ] its optical infrastructure to 40G speeds using Nortel's 40G solution, becoming the first in the region to offer a 40G bandwidth service for carriers and large enterprises. For the 100G trial, Lightower only needed to insert 100G line cards into its existing Nortel [ Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6500 ] platforms at each end of the network connection.

"The remarkable success of this 100G trial showcased that the Lightower network is ready and able to support the growing bandwidth demands of customers," said Jason Campbell, senior vice president, Lightower Fiber Networks. "This in-service trial with Nortel has clearly demonstrated that the Lightower optical network is truly 100G ready and that scaling from 40G to 100G is as simple as adding a card. Lightower is now in a leadership position to be one of the first providers in the Northeast to support a 100G solution."

As with Lightower's existing 40G network, the 100G trial was powered by Nortel's OME 6500 along with its [ 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine ] technology. Lightower's 40G optical network now spans over 2,000 fiber kilometers across major metro areas in the Northeast, and the 100G trial demonstrates Lightower's ability to quickly increase network bandwidth by 2.5 times to meet customer demand.

"For customers like Lightower, our innovative 'plug-and play' next-generation optical technology provides significant cost benefits by creating an elegant migration path that supports 10G, 40G and 100G over almost any fiber," said Philippe Morin, president, Metro Ethernet Networks, Nortel. "This allows operators to better leverage their existing investments and upgrade a majority of today's optical networks, including third-party metro, regional and long haul networks, to 40G and 100G with minimal disruption."

Nortel's Optical Networking business is the leader in the use of next-generation 40G/100G optical technologies like coherent technology, DP QPSK modulation, and advanced electronic digital signal processing techniques, all of which Nortel is the first and only vendor to successfully implement to date. Nortel has secured 53 wins to date for its 40G optical solution and has [ recently unveiled ] its commercially available 100G solution.

About Lightower Fiber Networks

Lightower Fiber Networks is a leading fiber network and broadband service provider in the Northeast. Lightower offers over 4,400 fiber route miles with over 1,630 on-net buildings coupled with comprehensive transport and alternative access solutions. Lightower's geographic footprint extends from Boston and southern New Hampshire, to eastern New York State, northern New Jersey, Long Island, and New York City. Lightower uniquely offers customers geographically diverse routing and low latency network solutions on an all-fiber optic network. Lightower Fiber is headquartered in Boxborough, MA. For more information, visit [ www.lightower.com ]** or call 888-LT-FIBER.

About Nortel
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.

*Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

**This is a 3rd party link as described in our [ Web linking practices ].

To view the photos associated with this release, please visit the following links:

[ http://www.marketwire.com/library/20091215-100G800.jpg ]

[ http://www.marketwire.com/library/20091215-100G2800.jpg ]