LG-Nortel Innovations Power SK Telecom Next-Generation Wireless
Services
Advanced Optical and Wireless Backhaul Technologies Increase Network
Capacity and Decrease Operator Costs
SEOUL, KOREA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 28, 2007 -- LG-Nortel - the LG
Electronics and Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) joint venture - is
helping SK Telecom deliver new wireless services such as wireless
Internet, 3D gaming, digital home services and telematics. The
LG-Nortel solution handles increased volumes of high-speed wireless
traffic while significantly improving network cost-effectiveness,
scalability and reliability. The solution supports wireless backhaul
- the communications traffic between the cell towers and the network.
The new, high-performance Metro Ethernet wireless backhaul
infrastructure is already in service, and will support the
optimization of over 7,000 wireless base stations nationwide, once
fully deployed. The rollout enhances SK Telecom's position as Korea's
largest wireless communications operator as the take up of new
next-generation wireless services takes off throughout Korea.
According to SK Telecom, by upgrading the existing wireless backhaul
network to this next-generation Metro Ethernet solution, the company
can easily and cost-effectively deliver high-speed wireless broadband
services and reduce current and future wireless backhaul expenses by
up to 40 percent. SK Telecom chose LG-Nortel for this large-scale
investment in the future because of the company's leadership in
delivering both wireless and optical solutions. SK Telecom's
satisfaction with the 10G optical backbone from Nortel that has
carried its advanced multimedia services for the past several years
was also a key factor in that decision.
The new infrastructure supports SK Telecom's existing 2G, 3G and
next-generation wireless services, including current wireless
multimedia offerings like multimedia messaging, satellite DMB
(digital multimedia broadcasting) and WiBro.
"SK Telecom's enhanced wireless capabilities lay the foundation for
their customers to enjoy next-generation services, such as mobile
video and streaming media. LG-Nortel's wireless backhaul solution
builds on Nortel's experience and reputation, gained through meeting
the needs of over 40 of the world's largest mobile operators in
recent years," said Peter MacKinnon, chairman, LG-Nortel. "Leveraging
both this global expertise and our ability to provide solutions that
are flexible, cost-efficient and scalable is critical to LG-Nortel's
increasingly important role in the rapidly evolving next-generation
wireless communications environment."
The components of the LG-Nortel Metro Ethernet backhaul solution for
SK Telecom are the Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6110 and
6130 multiservice access products as well as the OME 6500
next-generation multiservice convergence platform - both part of
Nortel's IP/Ethernet-centric Metro Ethernet Networks Mobile Backhaul
Solutions portfolio. The small and compact OME 6110/6130 devices are
used to provide the cell site concentration before the wireless
traffic is transported over SONET/SDH, CWDM or Ethernet to the OME
6500 for aggregation and grooming into an efficient and scalable
core.
About LG-Nortel
LG-Nortel is a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel.
Established in 2005, LG-Nortel provides leading edge
telecommunications equipment and network solutions, spanning wired
and wireless technologies, to service provider and enterprise
customers in Korea and around the world. LG-Nortel is also actively
developing next generation solutions for global markets, with over
1,000 skilled R&D engineers currently focused on wireless broadband
technology evolution and the development of powerful new product
lines. For more information on LG-Nortel, visit www.lg-nortel.com.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications
capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality
for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service
provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and
business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to
help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance
by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they
need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150
countries around the world. 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. 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 most recent restatement and two
previous restatements of its financial statements and related events;
the negative impact on Nortel and NNL of their most recent
restatement and delay in filing their financial statements and
related periodic reports; 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 approval of its proposed class action settlement; 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 restatements 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;
(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; the sufficiency of recently announced
restructuring actions, including the potential for higher actual
costs to be incurred in connection with these restructuring actions
compared to the estimated costs of such actions and the ability to
achieve the targeted cost savings and reductions of Nortel's unfunded
pension liability deficit; 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 the 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 objective; 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 effect 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
most recent restatement and two previous restatements of its
financial statements; 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 support 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 support facility; 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 effect 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 the market price of Nortel's
publicly traded securities, or the share consolidation resulting in a
lower total market capitalization or adverse effect on the liquidity
of Nortel's common shares. For additional information with respect to
certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on
Form10-K/A, 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.
(1)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel
Networks.
(1)LG-Nortel and the LG-Nortel logo are trademarks of LG-Nortel.
Contacts:
Nortel
Bohyun Kim
+82 2 2005 2128
Email: kimvo@LG-NORTEL.com
Nortel
Jamie Moody
(972) 684-7167
Email: moodyjam@nortel.com
Nortel
Hyun Chul Ahn
+82 2 2005 2127
Email: hcan@LG-NORTEL.com
Website: www.nortel.com
