BOSTON - Tennis sensations Venus and Serena Williams, gold medallists at the 2000 Olympic Games, have signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with Nortel Networks* [NYSE/TSE: NT].

The relationship with the Williams sisters will provide Nortel Networks with worldwide marketing and advertising rights. In addition, Venus and Serena will make personal appearances for Nortel Networks, who, in turn, will work with the Olympic champions on unique Internet driven programs and promotions from webcasts to on-line clinics.

"Nortel Networks is excited to work with these two dynamic stars and Olympic champions, both of whom are at the center of a women's sports revolution," said Charles Childers, chief marketing officer, Nortel Networks. "We look forward to a long and enduring relationship with them."

"My sister and I are both excited to be working with a global company like Nortel Networks," said Serena Williams. "Our goal is to be the best tennis players in the world, and Nortel Networks is a company whose image of speed, quality and reliability captures the essence of our game."

"Serena and I are really encouraged by what we can do with a company at the heart of the Internet revolution like Nortel Networks as we try to take the game of tennis out to kids who might not have been exposed to it," said Venus Williams, a gold medallist in women's singles, and in doubles with sister, Serena, at the 2000 Olympics.

Serena Williams, 19, won the 1999 U.S. Open title and has reached a career high ranking of #5 in the world. Venus Williams, 20, is ranked #3 in the world and won both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon singles titles in 2000. As doubles partners, the Williams sisters have captured three Grand Slam titles in addition to their victory at the Olympic Summer games.

The Nortel Networks agreement was negotiated by IMG, Venus and Serena's business managers. IMG, the Mark McCormack Group of Companies, founded by Mark H. McCormack in the early 1960s, has an international staff of more than 2,000 in more than 78 offices in 38 countries. The company is the world's premier sports management and marketing agency.

Nortel Networks is a global Internet and communications leader with capabilities spanning Optical, Wireless, Local Internet and eBusiness. The Company had 1999 U.S. GAAP revenues of US$21.3 billion and serves carrier, service provider and enterprise customers globally. Today, Nortel Networks is creating a high-performance Internet that is more reliable and faster than ever before. It is redefining the economics and quality of networking and the Internet, promising a new era of collaboration, communications and commerce. Visit us at www.nortelnetworks.com.

*Nortel Networks, the Nortel Networks logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.