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Nortel Helps Operators to Maximize Spectrum to Deliver 3G New UMTS
Solutions to Support 850, 1700 / 2100 MHz Bands
LAS VEGAS, NV, April 5, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT) has introduced new solutions designed to provide wider availability of mobile broadband services, make it possible for wireless operators to leverage their existing 2G spectrum and utilize new spectrum being made available to deliver next- generation services and capabilities.
Nortel's new solutions are designed to help wireless operators deploy UMTS-based 3G networks in the 850 MHz and 1700/2100 MHz frequency spectrums. This complements Nortel's efforts in Europe where it is driving spectrum efficiency through the approval of 900 MHz spectrum to be used for UMTS and HSXPA services in Europe.
UMTS with turbo-charged HSDPA is capable of delivering speeds up to four times faster than many of today's current fixed broadband connections to enable interactive mobile gaming, DVD-quality film, enterprise applications and other bandwidth-intensive services.
The 850 MHz band is currently being used by operators in North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America to provide 2G/GSM services. Nortel's new product enhancements are designed to allow those operators to use their existing 850 MHz band of spectrum to support advanced 3G/UMTS services.
Nortel's product enhancements can be used by operators that secure new U.S. 1700 / 2100 MHz spectrum which will be made available through an FCC auction scheduled in June 2006.
"Nortel is working with carriers around the world to enhance their network capabilities and extend mobile broadband to more and more people," said Jean-Luc Jezouin, vice president GSM & UMTS Products, Nortel. "Because spectrum will remain a costly and limited resource, Nortel has engineered ways to help customers re-farm and reuse it, allowing them to make the most of their investment. With today's product introductions we will also be prepared to support the additional spectrum as it is made available by the various regulatory bodies."
Nortel's 850 MHz and 1700 / 2100 MHz solutions are scheduled for commercial availability in the second half of 2006 and are designed for use with Nortel's existing base station portfolio. In addition, Nortel's GSM-UMTS BTS 18000 supports both GSM and UMTS in tandem, an added benefit for operators needing to support customers on both, while migrating from GSM to UMTS.
Today's announcement continues Nortel's effort to drive efficient use of radio spectrum. As announced at 3GSM World Congress, Nortel has been championing in 3GPP and regulatory bodies, the approval of 900 MHz spectrum to be used for UMTS and HSPA services in Europe.
In March, Nortel and Qualcomm achieved the fastest HSDPA data call at 7.2 Mbps in the 850 MHz and 2100 MHz spectrums. A few months prior to that, the two companies joined with Orange to complete UMTS and HSDPA calls at 3.6 Mbps in the 900 MHz band, a spectrum that is well-suited to delivering DSL-like speeds to rural areas.
Demonstrations of data calls in the 850 MHz and 2100 MHz will be conducted at CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas (Las Vegas Convention Center, Hall C, Booth No. 1835) April 5-7.
The company's UMTS/HSDPA milestones include the industry's first HSDPA mobile call in January 2005 and the first live test call using a commercial handset solution in March 2005, the latter being conducted with LGE. Additionally, Nortel earned recognition in June 2005 when it became the first wireless network supplier to complete the TL9000 registration standard for Quality Management System Requirements and Measurements across its HSDPA, UMTS, and GSM wireless infrastructure solutions.
Nortel has worked with a number of wireless operators on HSDPA trials and deployments including EDGE Wireless in the US; SKT and KTF in Korea; Orange at 3GSM World Congress 2005 in Cannes, France; Vodafone at CeBIT 2005 in Hanover, Germany; Partner Communications in Israel; and Mobilkom Austria.
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. Our next generation technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people with information. 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.
Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "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. Although Nortel believes expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the assumptions in this press release, they may prove to be inaccurate and consequently Nortel's actual results could differ materially from its expectations set out in this press release. Further, actual results or events could differ materially from those contemplated in forward-looking statements as a result of the following (i) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's restatements and related matters including: Nortel's recently announced restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements and related events and that the previously filed financial statements of Nortel and NNL and related audit reports should not be relied upon; the negative impact on Nortel and NNL of their announced restatement and delay in filing their financial statements and related periodic reports causing them to breach their public debt indentures and obligations under their credit facilities with the possibility that the holders of their public debt or NNL's lenders would seek to accelerate the maturity of that debt; and causing a breach of NNL's support facility with EDC with the possibility that EDC would refuse to issue additional support under the facility, terminate its commitments under the facility or require NNL to cash collateralize all existing support; legal judgments, fines, penalties or settlements, or any substantial regulatory fines or other penalties or sanctions, related to the ongoing regulatory and criminal investigations of Nortel in the U.S. and Canada; any significant pending civil litigation actions not encompassed by Nortel's proposed class action settlement; any substantial cash payment and/or significant dilution of Nortel's existing equity positions resulting from the finalization and approval of its proposed class action settlement, or if such proposed class action settlement is not finalized, any larger settlements or awards of damages in respect of such class actions; any unsuccessful remediation of Nortel's material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting resulting in an inability to report Nortel's results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner; the time required to implement Nortel's remedial measures; Nortel's inability to access, in its current form, its shelf registration filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Nortel's below investment grade credit rating and any further adverse effect on its credit rating due to Nortel's restatement of its financial statements; any adverse affect on Nortel's business and market price of its publicly traded securities arising from continuing negative publicity related to Nortel's restatements; Nortel's potential inability to attract or retain the personnel necessary to achieve its business objectives; any breach by Nortel of the continued listing requirements of the NYSE or TSX causing the NYSE and/or the TSX to commence suspension or delisting procedures; any default in Nortel's filing obligations extending beyond May 9, 2006, causing any Canadian securities regulatory authority to impose an order to cease all trading in Nortel's securities within the applicable jurisdiction or to impose such an order sooner if Nortel fails to comply with the alternate information guidelines of such regulatory authorities; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's business including: yearly and quarterly fluctuations of Nortel's operating results; reduced demand and pricing pressures for its products due to global economic conditions, significant competition, competitive pricing practice, cautious capital spending by customers, increased industry consolidation, rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and short product life cycles, and other trends and industry characteristics affecting the telecommunications industry; any material and adverse affects on Nortel's performance if its expectations regarding market demand for particular products prove to be wrong or because of certain barriers in its efforts to expand internationally; any reduction in Nortel's operating results and any related volatility in its market price of its publicly traded securities arising from any decline in its gross margin, or fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; any negative developments associated with Nortel's supply contract and contract manufacturing agreements including as a result of using a sole supplier for key optical networking solutions components, and any defects or errors in Nortel's current or planned products; any negative impact to Nortel of its failure to achieve its business transformation objectives; restrictions on how Nortel and its president and chief executive officer conduct its business arising from a settlement with Motorola Inc.; additional valuation allowances for all or a portion of its deferred tax assets; Nortel's failure to protect its intellectual property rights, or any adverse judgments or settlements arising out of disputes regarding intellectual property; changes in regulation of the Internet and/or other aspects of the industry; Nortel's failure to successfully operate or integrate its strategic acquisitions, or failure to consummate or succeed with its strategic alliances; any negative affect of Nortel's failure to evolve adequately its financial and managerial control and reporting systems and processes, manage and grow its business, or create an effective risk management strategy; and (iii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's liquidity, financing arrangements and capital including: the impact of Nortel's recently announced restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements; any acceleration under their public debt indentures and credit facilities, which may result in Nortel and NNL being unable to meet their respective payment obligations; any inability of Nortel to manage cash flow fluctuations to fund working capital requirements or achieve its business objectives in a timely manner or obtain additional sources of funding; high levels of debt, limitations on Nortel capitalizing on business opportunities because of credit facility covenants, or on obtaining additional secured debt pursuant to the provisions of indentures governing certain of Nortel's public debt issues and the provisions of its credit facilities; any increase of restricted cash requirements for Nortel if it is unable to secure alternative support for obligations arising from certain normal course business activities, or any inability of Nortel's subsidiaries to provide it with sufficient funding; any negative affect to Nortel of the need to make larger defined benefit plans contributions in the future or exposure to customer credit risks or inability of customers to fulfill payment obligations under customer financing arrangements; any negative impact on Nortel's ability to make future acquisitions, raise capital, issue debt and retain employees arising from stock price volatility and further declines in Nortel's market price of its publicly traded securities, or any future share consolidation resulting in a lower total market capitalization or adverse affect on the liquidity of Nortel's common shares. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's 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.
(x)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.
SOURCE Nortel


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