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December 16, 2003
Bell Canada and Nortel Networks team up to further accelerate customer-focused IP development
IP Innovation Centre planned in Montreal
TORONTO, ON – Bell Canada added to its growing Internet Protocol (IP) arsenal today with the addition of Nortel Networks* (NYSE/TSX:NT) optical network technology that allows greater amounts of voice and data to travel at greater speeds over the Internet all at lower costs. Bell Canada plans to invest CDN$170-million over two years in Nortel Networks technology to help ensure that Canada is a leader in the emerging IP world.
"Optical technology truly mines the potential of the Internet to provide an entirely new world of products and services to our customers," said Eugene Roman, Group President – Systems and Technology for Bell Canada. "Bell’s optical network will evolve seamlessly from a voice and data circuit based facility toward a more packet-based network. There will be no impact on existing services and we anticipate rolling out our optical network enhancements in 2004.” Bell Canada and Nortel Networks will also create an Optical Innovation Centre in Montreal. The Centre will accelerate the deployment of new IP-oriented optical solutions. It is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2004. “The Innovation Centre will focus on initiatives that lower deployment costs, improve the speed to market of next generation products and services and simplify their introduction to customers,” said Roman. Brian McFadden, President, Optical Networks, Nortel Networks, said the agreement is designed to enable Bell to deliver on its promise of simplicity to customers. “Nortel Networks is committed to developing optical technology that transforms the network by removing boundaries to efficiency, productivity and growth with long-term investment protection. Our end-to-end optical networking portfolio is designed to help service providers simplify their networks and offer revenue generation services more quickly and efficiently.” Today’s announcement is another milestone in Bell’s focussed initiative to accelerate the delivery of hosted IP telephony and multimedia services. Earlier this year, Bell Canada announced its plans to invest $200 million over three years in Nortel Networks IP technology. Product InformationBell will use Nortel Networks end-to-end Optical Networks portfolio that consists of photonics, SONET/SDH and optical switching, all supported by network management functionality for ease of operation and maintenance. Specific products include Nortel Networks OPTera* Connect HDX optical switch, which allows service providers to easily increase the capacity of the networks, and Optical Multiservice Edge 6500, a platform that brings together multiple services and network layers onto a single device. About Bell Canada
Bell Canada, Canada's national leader in communications, provides connectivity to residential and business customers through wired and wireless voice and data communications, local and long distance phone services, high speed and wireless Internet access, IP-broadband services, e-business solutions and satellite television services. Bell Canada is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For more information please visit www.bell.ca.** About Nortel Networks
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 can be found on the web at www.nortelnetworks.com. *Networks, OPTera, the Nortel Networks logo, the Globemark and Business Without Boundaries are trademarks of Nortel Networks. **This is a 3rd party link as described in our Web linking practices. Contact for Press and Analysts:
Bridget Braxton
Nortel Networks
972-685-8813
bbraxton@nortel.com
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