Nortel Targets Wireless Market with Advancements in Multiservice Switching; Boosts Performance, Density, Cuts Costs for Wireless Customers

Business Wire, Feb 15, 2005

CANNES, France -- Nortel (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) has introduced enhancements to its market-leading Multiservice Switch (MSS) portfolio designed to reduce costs and improve network performance for wireless operators and customers in high growth markets like government and enterprise.

Nortel's multiservice switching solution addresses one of the single highest ongoing operational expenses wireless operators face when transitioning to third generation (3G) networks. It converges and compresses voice and data traffic from wireless base stations and transports it back to a central switching point, resulting in typical savings of 20 to 40 percent on T1/E1 leased line costs based on Nortel research and actual customer deployments.

"As 3G services gain in popularity, demand for data backhaul will grow dramatically as more and more data must be carried from the cell sites back into the network," said Peter MacKinnon, president, GSM/UMTS, Nortel. "Backhaul cost reduction is a critical issue for wireless operators as they move into the 3G era."

"This switching solution is another great example of the synergies Nortel offers across its packet core and wireless networking solutions," MacKinnon said. "Nortel has been the market leader for years in multiservice switching. Now we are taking that expertise from our wireline products and applying the benefits for wireless customers."

Nortel has been the global market share leader in multiservice switching revenue for 15 consecutive quarters as of year-end 2004, according to Synergy Research Group. Nortel recently announced a new network contract with Belgian wireless operator Mobistar, including multiservice switching equipment to reduce backhaul costs from its radio sites. Other wireless operators including Vodafone, T-Mobile, Cingular, Western Wireless and Telstra have also deployed products from Nortel's Multiservice Switching portfolio.

"The latest enhancements to our MSS portfolio are designed to help our customers address pressing requirements for mission-critical networks," said Scott McFeely, general manager, services edge, Nortel. "With these enhancements, we can better serve the growing wireless transmission market as well as government organizations and large enterprises."

Enhancements are now generally available on Nortel's Multiservice Switch 7400 (MSS) series, and include a new MSS 7460 product. The MSS 7460 supports the same services and interfaces as the 16-slot MSS 7480, but in a space saving, eight-slot chassis that is more cost-effective and attractive for space-constrained deployments for wireless and wireline operators.

Nortel has also introduced a new set of high-density interface cards that effectively double the port capacity of the entire MSS 7400 series, allowing existing customers to further leverage their existing investment while enabling new customers to more economically address network requirements. These new interface cards contain features like remote configuration and 'any-service-any-port' functionality that further reduce capital and operational costs.

New interface cards and hardware upgrades introduced for Nortel's Multiservice Switch portfolio include:

--An improved 'any-service-any-port' interface card for the MSS 7400 series. The new Multiservice Access (MSA) module boasts 32 ports on a single slot card, double the port density of the previous version. Nortel's MSA card enables the service provider to remotely configure ATM/CES, Frame Relay, or IP/IP VPN services on the MSS 7400 series on a port-by-port basis, greatly reducing operational costs.

--New 10/100 Ethernet cards for the MSS 7400 series that provide improved port densities and higher performance. The new Ethernet cards also enable service providers to offer virtual private LAN (local area network) services (VPLS) using existing switching infrastructure.

--Enhancements to the MSS 15000 that enable improved packet processing capabilities that reflect today's mix of IP and ATM traffic on switched networks. With the emergence of IP VPNs, today's switches require additional processing power to address sometimes heavy IP traffic conditions. The new hardware enhancements are targeted for optical connectivity up to OC-48.

With more than 45,000 systems shipped to over 1,500 customer networks, Nortel's Multiservice Switching family has proven field experience in delivering carrier-grade reliability and service flexibility for mission-critical enterprise and service provider networks worldwide. Nortel's MSS portfolio is deployed with more than 25 major wireless operators and is delivering proven reliability for wireless packet networking solutions across GSM/GPRS/UMTS, TDMA and CDMA/CDMA2000 technologies.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Serving both service provider and enterprise customers, Nortel delivers innovative technology solutions encompassing end-to-end broadband, Voice over IP, multimedia services and applications, and wireless broadband designed to help people solve the world's greatest challenges. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.>