Nortel has long been a technology powerhouse, with an unparalleled history of innovation in the design, development, and deployment of products, systems, and solutions that have helped shape the very nature of modern communications and have delivered true value to our carrier and enterprise customers around the globe. This innovation has come through ground-breaking technology advances — many of them industry firsts — in such fundamental technologies as digital, optical, wireless, IP, VoIP, broadband, multimedia, and Ethernet.

Before 1970'S

1970'S

1980'S

1990'S

2000'S

1976	Developed the world's first digital PBX.
1976	Announced Digital World — a commitment to deliver the world's first complete family of digital switching, transmission, and business communications systems.
1976	Introduced the first X.25 data switch, representing the first standards-based commercial application of packet switching — the foundation of today's Internet.

1983	First in the world to use 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) in microwave radio systems, allowing more information to be put into the same frequency band.
1988	Developed the world's first digital key telephone system (Meridian Norstar), creating a major discontinuity in the key system market.
1989	Developed the world's first billing system to use speech-recognition technology to automate collect calls, calls billed to a third party, and calling-card calls.
1989	Announced FiberWorld, which applied fiber technology across the network to remove the complexity impeding service growth, cut operational costs, greatly improve network performance, and create a platform for service innovation.

1995	Introduced the world's first commercial 10-Gbit/s SONET/SDH system (OC-192/STM-64).
1997	Introduced the world's first 1-Megabyte modem for always-on Internet connections; orders exceeded US$1 billion in only eight months.

2000	Completed a series of landmark next-generation wireless calls, including the industry's first wireless packet data sessions using CDMA2000 1xRTT technology.
2000	Demonstrated the first live demo of 10-Gigabit Ethernet.
2000	Demonstrated the first live Wireless Internet applications at speeds in excess of 50 kbit/s on a live GPRS system — more than five times the speed then available over GSM.
2001	Delivered the first commercial radio equipment based on the 3GPP UMTS standard.
2001	Introduced Passport 8600 — the first true carrier-grade routing switch.
2001	Unveiled the first 10-Gigabit Ethernet Optical Adapter for servers, driving a 10-fold increase in access and data transfer speeds between servers and networks.
2001	With Qualcomm, conducted the first mobile IP call, demonstrating seamless hand-off of a packet data call across 3G packet networks.
2001	With Vodaphone, successfully completed the world's first international roaming call using the UMTS 3GPP wireless standard.
2001	Demonstrated the first nomadic MIMO demonstration system, with a peak rate of 10 Mbit/s in a 5-MHz spectrum.
2002	Became the first supplier with wireless data networks in service using all three major access standards: GPRS, CDMA2000, and UMTS.
2003	Became the first major telecom vendor to bring the wireless mesh network concept to market. Wireless mesh is a breakthrough architecture that reduces installation and commissioning costs of wireless LANs by 75% and operating expenses by 70%.
2004	Became the first networking company to complete the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) phase II test regimen for IPv6 — the next-generation Internet Protocol.
2004	With mm02, successfully completed a series of live wireless calls using HSDPA.
2004	Completed an OFDM-MIMO lab demonstration of large data transfers with peak data rates of 37 Mbit/s over a standard 5-MHz PCS band under conditions found on real-world cellular networks.
2005	With LG Electronics, completed the first live test calls using a commercial handset solution for HSDPA.
2005	Became the first to achieve industry certification (TL9000 registration) across an end-to-end portfolio of hardware, software, and services for HSDPA, UMTS, and GSM solutions.
2005	Demonstrated the world's first integrated data encryption for 10-Gbit/s networks.
2005	With Option N.V., completed the industry's first successful demonstration of live HSDPA data card calls reaching a wireless transmission of 3.6 Mbps, faster than majority of broadband connections.
2006	With QUALCOMM and Orange, successfully completed industry's first UMTS and HSDPA calls in the 900 MHz band, a spectrum capable of delivering wireless broadband such as mobile TV, video-on-demand, video telephony and DSL-like services to rural areas.
2006	With the combined power of HSUPA and HSDPA, achieved industry's first simultaneous uplink and downlink wireless calls between two mobile devices at uplink speeds four times faster than UMTS services at the time.
2006	With Sierra Wireless, achieved industry's first air test calls using EV-DO Rev A wireless technology and pre-commercial wireless data devices, confirming the commercial viability of EV-DO Rev A for powering next-generation broadband wireless services.
2006	With Qualcomm, achieved industry's fastest HSDPA mobile data call, at 7.2 Mbps — four times faster than fixed broadband connections.
2006	Developed innovative new technology, called Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) that transforms Ethernet technology in a more reliable technology for carrier networks.
2006	Conducted industry's first wireless transmission using Uplink Collaborative MIMO to demonstrate the ability for operators to double the number of mobile broadband subscribers at much less cost.
2006	BBC Radio story on 40th Anniversary of Optical
2006	Nortel honored by Canada's Telecom Hall for "Digital World" effort
2007	With collaboration of Kyocera Wireless Corp. and Runcom Technologies, Nortel achieved what is believed to be the industry's first multi-vendor, live MIMO call using WiMAX antenna technology.
2007	Completed the industry's first call over an Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) network. With this demonstration, Nortel became the first in the industry to complete live calls using MIMO advanced antenna technology in each of the major 4G technologies—WiMAX, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and UMB.