Vermont Electric Power Company Deploys Optical Ethernet Solution from Nortel Networks; Converges Data, Voice Services on Single Network for Greater Reliability, Cost Savings

Business Wire, Nov 5, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2003

Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), the Rutland-based transmission company owned by 22 distribution utilities in Vermont, has completed statewide deployment of Optical Ethernet solutions from Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT).

Using Nortel Networks OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platforms with Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) technology, VELCO has converged data and voice services over the same infrastructure. By leveraging the reliability and high-bandwidth of SONET with the simplicity and low-cost of Ethernet, VELCO's Optical Ethernet deployment is expected to enhance day-to-day operations while helping VELCO to drive high reliability and resiliency for mission-critical power services.

Additionally, the broadband connections now available at each utility substation give VELCO the ability to support new, high-bandwidth applications to enhance employee productivity, reduce time-to-service, improve information sharing and make better use of network assets.

"With the increased bandwidth available through our Optical Ethernet network, we have increased our ability to gather information and understand business -- without impacting the performance of our critical systems," said Dan Nelson, head of Information Systems and Telecommunications, VELCO. "As a result, we have improved our ability to share information, reduced the risk of service impacting outages, and improved the efficiency of our network."

With OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platforms distributed throughout Vermont, the network is organized into two interconnected OC-48 rings. With this configuration, the infrastructure can be shared between all VELCO substations with no single point of failure.

VELCO's optical network marks one of the largest enterprise deployments of Nortel Networks RPR technology. This technology enables efficient use of network resources by supporting flexible bandwidth sharing between devices on the ring. For example, VELCO can dedicate part of the ring to support system control and monitoring applications like SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), while using the excess capacity for other, performance-enhancing and cost-saving applications.

Delivering power services throughout the state, VELCO's interest is to help service its community members. With the network that has been put in place, VELCO also has the opportunity to further improve the quality of life for Vermont residents by making broadband services available and affordable to state agencies like police and public safety organizations.

"Optical Ethernet solutions are giving utility companies like VELCO the opportunity to leverage their network assets to support new applications and explore new service offerings -- all while driving reduced costs and reduced network complexity," said Marco Pagani, president, Optical Ethernet and Storage Solutions, Nortel Networks. "With the Optical Ethernet solution in place, VELCO will see an increase of available bandwidth, allowing them to improve on traditional utility functions while offering new services like Internet access, video surveillance, high-speed remote access and digital image transfer, just to name a few."

As part of Nortel Networks enterprise technology vision, "One Network. A World of Choice," Nortel Networks optical solutions for the enterprise offer an unmatched scalable, simple and resilient infrastructure to increase the competitiveness of enterprises as they seek a profitable and responsive business model for serving their clients and customers.

Nortel Networks provides a complete set of simple, scalable and secure Optical Enterprise solutions to assist the utility sector in maximizing their networking investment by increasing bandwidth, improving network resiliency and providing new service opportunities. By implementing these solutions, utilities can achieve reduced network complexity and improved total cost of ownership by converging multiple disparate networks over a common infrastructure. Additionally, they can leverage their

assets to generate new revenue opportunities through delivery of next generation Optical Broadband Services including Optical Ethernet and storage connectivity.

Nortel Networks comprehensive Optical Ethernet portfolio enables delivery of Ethernet services across service provider and enterprise networks. Nortel Networks is the only vendor that provides a complete set of Ethernet services via Ethernet over fiber, Ethernet over SONET/SDH and Ethernet over WDM. Nortel Networks was #1 worldwide in market share for the Ethernet DWDM and SONET MSPP segments of the Optical Ethernet market for 2002, according to IDC.

Nortel Networks is an industry leader and innovator focused on transforming how the world communicates and exchanges information. The Company is supplying its service provider and enterprise customers with communications technology and infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and multimedia services spanning Wireless Networks, Wireline Networks, Enterprise Networks, and Optical Networks. As a global company, Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found on the Web at www.nortelnetworks.com.