Baikalwestcom, Nortel Team Up to Extend Wireless Coverage Across
Eastern Siberia
New Network Extension Project Gives Baikalwestcom Capacity for New
Services and Increases Network Reach
MOSCOW, RUSSIA and IRKUTSK, RUSSIA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- June 05, 2007
-- Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) and Baikalwestcom announced a new
contract for a wireless network extension in 2007 that will enable
Baikalwestcom to increase its network capacity and expand its mobile
services coverage to new areas of Siberia. This contract announcement
marks another milestone in a continuing three-year cooperation
between Nortel and Baikalwestcom - Eastern Siberia's leading service
provider.
Under the terms of the new contract for GSM wireless equipment,
Baikalwestcom will increase its core network capacity to better
support subscribers in the densely populated metropolitan areas of
Irkutsk, Bratsk and Angarsk and extend and improve its wireless
network to deliver services across a wider area of Eastern Siberia.
Baikalwestcom also intends to extend GPRS data services such as the
delivery of Internet access into more rural areas across the Irkutsk
region.
The Baikalwestcom coverage area will also be expanded to provide
updated communication services in the large East Siberian region with
more than 50 rural towns and villages and the company also intends to
deliver uninterrupted coverage along all the major highways within
the Irkutsk region.
During 2006, Nortel and Baikalwestcom worked together to put into
commercial operation the first stage of the Baikalwestcom network
extension project, which consisted of a core systems upgrade and the
deployment of more than 400 Nortel base stations and GPRS-subsystems,
as well as launch of EDGE technology within the Baikalwestcom
coverage area. This enabled Baikalwestcom to increase the volume of
its commercial services, including SMS and mobile Internet services
such as music and video downloads and multimedia services.
"Significantly increasing our subscriber base, launching new
services, and considerably increasing the GPRS and Internet services
area of our service portfolio are the primary aims for our continuing
cooperation with Nortel for 2007," said Vladimir Shapovalov, CEO,
Baikalwestcom JSC. "And, we need to do all this in addition to
enhancing the quality and reliability of all our communications."
"Nortel helps operators all over the world realize their most
ambitious and challenging communications projects. Our new project
with Baikalwestcom is aimed at increasing network capacity and reach
and adding subscribers and as a long-term target - making the network
"broadband-ready" so that Baikalwestcom can deliver low-cost
broadband services. This is improving service today and creating a
path to the future, which is very important for Baikalwestcom," said
Sorin Lupu, president Eastern Europe, Nortel.
Baikalwestcom is deploying over 350 Nortel GSM base stations
(BTS18000) across Siberia. The company will also use Nortel software
upgrades to increase the capacity of its existing three DMS switches,
located in Irkutsk, Bratsk, and Angarsk.
Nortel has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless
networks in over 70 countries. Nortel was the industry's first
supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio
technologies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA2000 1x and 1xEV-DO, and WLAN) and
is the only end-to- end provider of all next generation wireless
solutions.
About JSC Baikalwestcom
JSC "Baikalwestcom" is the leading mobile service provider for East
Siberia, Irkutsk region. "Baikalwestcom" provides its subscribers
with CDMA 2000 1x and GSM-900/1800 mobile communications services.
JCS "Baikalwestcom" is wholly owned by the largest telecommunications
provider in Siberia, JSC "Sibirtelecom." "Baikalwestcom" provides its
services to more than 1,500,000 subscribers, which represents 57% of
the total mobile services in the region. Since 2003, JSC
"Baikalwestcom" has been listed among the 10 largest Russian mobile
service providers.
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 from those
contemplated in forward-looking statements. For additional
information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see
Nortel's Annual Report on Form10-K, 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.
Contacts:
Nortel
Victoria Tchouikova
+7 4955445103
Email: vtchouik@nortel.com
Nortel
Greta Brown
+44 1628 432968
Email: gretab@nortel.com
Website: www.nortel.com
SOURCE: Nortel
