|
Passport
 |
 |
Your Location: Home / News & Events / News Releases
September 21, 2001
China Unicom Selects Nortel Networks for Multiservice Backbones, Optical Ethernet
Plans Deployment of Optical Metro Network Solutions in Beijing, Nine Provinces
BEIJING – China Unicom has selected Nortel Networks* [NYSE/TSE: NT] to provide Optical Metro network solutions in Beijing and in nine eastern and central provinces in the People’s Republic of China under a series of agreements estimated to be worth approximately US$18 million.
Under these agreements, Nortel Networks will supply Optical Ethernet solutions and multiservice backbone networks that will position China Unicom to address growing demand for data, voice and IP services in these regions, which represent more than 50 percent of China’s gross domestic product and nearly 48 percent (619 million people) of its population. With nearly 30 years of operating experience in Greater China, Nortel Networks has won contracts estimated to be worth more than US$1.2 billion since the start of 2001 from customers such as China Unicom. Nortel Networks ranked #1 in ATM market share in China in 2000, according to CCID Group. Synergy Research Group ranked Nortel Networks #1 in overall and carrier ATM WAN switches for the first quarter of 2001. Nortel Networks was the leader in providing Optical Internet infrastructure equipment to China in 2000, according to Frost & Sullivan. Nortel Networks is also investing in China to deliver key next generation networking solutions and its comprehensive R&D facilities in Beijing will play an important role in developing new technologies. “We are working closely with China Unicom to deliver the high-performance Internet to Chinese customers,” said Robert Mao, chief executive officer, Nortel Networks China. “With deployment of Nortel Networks industry-leading solutions, China Unicom will be positioned to lower network and computing costs, drive higher returns on customer relationships, and increase profitability.” The agreements announced today provide for an Optical Ethernet solution for Jiangsu province, and multiservice ATM backbones for Beijing and for the provinces of Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hebei, Anhui, Shandong and Sichuan. Beijing alone has approximately 14 million people, including more than 10 percent (approximately 2.8 million) of China’s Internet subscribers. In addition to addressing their requirements, China Unicom’s new networks are expected to help meet the communications needs of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet solution for Jiangsu province will position China Unicom to deliver potentially revenue-generating services – including Gigabit Ethernet Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) – with the economics and reliability of optical networks. Optical Ethernet resolves the major bandwidth bottleneck for businesses and data centers – the ‘on ramp’ for LAN access to the service provider network. By eliminating the need for translations between Ethernet and other transport protocols like T1, DS3 and ATM, Optical Ethernet can effectively extend Ethernet local area networks (LANs) beyond an organization’s walls. Nortel Networks Passport* 8600, a critical element in Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet solution, provides ease-of-use, high performance, reliability and scalability in a single platform. It can be used for service provider metro applications requiring higher performance routing, or for metropolitan area network (MAN) Ethernet switched connectivity. Passport 8600 is designed to provide 99.999 percent uptime, critical in a business environment where downtime can result in loss of competitive advantage, customer loyalty and revenues. Nortel Networks multiservice backbones will position China Unicom to deliver advanced ATM, frame relay, IP, IP VPNs and other, end-to-end data services on a single, high-capacity platform providing seamless scalability from 40 gigabits-per-second to multi-terabit speeds. “These new multiservice networks will help China Unicom to redefine the cost, reliability, quality and profitability of the Internet for consumers, businesses, public institutions and government agencies in China,” Mao said. “They are expected to enable lower networking and operating costs; new, high-value broadband services; higher return on customer relationships; accelerated delivery of personalized content; and new business models based on unconstrained bandwidth and a common, transparent IP architecture. These are tangible and significant benefits to any economy.” Nortel Networks backbone solution for China Unicom includes Nortel Networks Passport* 15000, Passport 15000-VSS multiservice carrier switch, Passport 8600 routing switch, Passport 7480 multiservice switches, and Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node (BSN). A highly scalable, versatile platform, Passport 15000-VSS is designed to speed new data services like ATM, frame relay and IP VPNs. It can also be optimized to meet the requirements of any one specific site on a network, enabling service providers to ‘grow as they go’ by expanding switch features as requirements for a particular point-of-presence increase or change. Passport 15000-VSS also provides true carrier grade reliability with ‘hitless’ software migration for both static and dynamic ATM connections. Nortel Networks Passport 7480 multiservice switch offers a versatile, reliable and scalable networking platform, driving high performance, cost savings, investment protection, and management simplicity. Designed for the service provider environment, the versatile Passport 7480 switch is ideal for access adaptation and backbone switching, supporting ATM, frame relay, IP routing and switching, MPLS, circuit emulation, and voice services. Shasta 5000 BSN is built on a highly scalable hardware platform that enables service providers to scale subscriber counts and associated services as they grow their customer base. Nortel Networks is a global leader in networking and communications solutions and infrastructure for service providers and corporations. The company is at the forefront of transforming how the world communicates, exchanges information and profits from the high performance Internet through capabilities spanning the Optical Internet, Wireless Internet, Intelligent Internet and IP (Internet Protocol) technologies and services. Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries and can be found on the Web at www.nortelnetworks.com. Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other things: the impact of price and product competition; the dependence on new product development; the impact of rapid technological and market change; the ability of Nortel Networks to make acquisitions and/or integrate the operations and technologies of acquired businesses in an effective manner; general industry and market conditions and growth rates; international growth and global economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets and including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of consolidations in the telecommunications industry, the uncertainties of the Internet; stock market volatility; the ability of Nortel Networks to recruit and retain qualified employees; the ability to obtain timely, adequate and reasonably priced component parts from suppliers and internal manufacturing capacity; the impact of the credit risks of our customers; the entrance by Nortel Networks into an increased number of supply, turnkey, and outsourcing contracts which contain delivery, installation, and performance provisions, which, if not met, could result in Nortel Networks having to pay substantial penalties or liquidated damages; and the impact of increased provision of customer financing and commitments by Nortel Networks. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see the reports filed by Nortel Networks with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Nortel Networks disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. *Nortel Networks, the Nortel Networks logo, the Globemark, Passport and Shasta are trademarks of Nortel Networks.Contact for Press and Analysts:
Daniel Zhao
Nortel Networks
86 10 6528 8877 x7140
danielz@nortel.com
Ben Roome
Nortel Networks
44 20 7529 3036
benroome@nortel.com
Ann Fuller
Nortel Networks
613-768-1208
afuller@nortel.com
Additional Media & Analyst Contacts
