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Nortel Data, IP Telephony, Security and Wireless Solutions Enable
Stadium-wide Network Access
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NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 13 /CNW/ - Football fans have another reason to cheer
this season as the Louisiana Superdome sports a secure IP network featuring
hospitality solutions and services from Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT) and its channel
partner Cohesive Connections.
"The Superdome's restoration after Hurricane Katrina is a great symbol of
rebirth for New Orleans," said David Stewart, regional manager of technology
for SMG Management, the company that owns and operates the Louisiana
Superdome. "Working with Nortel and Cohesive Connections, we rebuilt the Dome
as one of the most technologically-advanced sports facilities in the world,
bringing the games closer to the fans through use of wireless, digital and
online technology."
The Superdome's resilient converged voice and data network is comprised
of Nortel data, IP telephony and security solutions. Nortel Global Services,
in conjunction with Cohesive Connections, provided pre-deployment planning and
design of the Superdome network, in addition to building and managing the
network.
As part of this network expansion, the Superdome is now seamlessly
connected to the New Orleans Arena, which hosts the NBA's New Orleans Hornets.
Simplifying communication between the two SMG-operated venues will help reduce
operations costs and time, as well as give SMG staff remote access to the
network when off-site.
In addition, mobile broadband service is being deployed throughout the
stadium in two phases, and upon completion will transform the Superdome into
one of the world's largest WLAN deployments in a dome with a non-retractable
roof. Powered by Nortel's WLAN 2300, wireless service is now available on the
Superdome's ground level and at its entrances. As part of this deployment,
staff members are using WiFi handheld scanners to quickly scan and validate
tickets at entry points to reduce crowd bottlenecks for faster and more
efficient entry to the facility.
"We've had record turn-outs for the Saints' 2006 season-we had more than
70,000 people here on opening night. Using the WiFi scanners at the Dome's
entrances helped us quickly move people through the gates, allowing fans to
spend less time in line and more time experiencing the game," said Stewart.
Media and photographers covering sporting events are also able to use the
completed mobile broadband network to rapidly exchange, upload and update
files. In addition, hundreds of wireless and wireline Nortel IP phones are
being used in the Superdome to give staff and guests stadium-wide access to
voice services.
"With the restoration of the Superdome, New Orleans once again claims its
position as one of the leading sports cities in America, and Nortel is truly
honored to be a part of this historic revitalization," said Steve Slattery,
president, Enterprise Solutions, Nortel. "Through Nortel's technology and
services, we are laying the foundation to give Superdome guests and staff an
extraordinary communications experience that will take them one step closer to
the field and one step closer to rebuilding their own lives one cheer, one
goal at a time."
At the heart of the Superdome's converged voice and data network is
Nortel's Secure Network Access technology that grants secure, flexible, and
reliable network access from anywhere in the building. The Nortel Secure
Network Access switch provides the Superdome with comprehensive security
features to ensure authentication for all users while protecting against
intrusion. The Superdome's network expansion also includes Nortel Switched
Firewalls to protect the Superdome's data and IP telephony network and
Nortel's Enterprise Network Management System. Nortel's Threat Protection
System will perform detailed traffic analysis to aid in protecting the network
from existing and emerging threats.
In the network core, the Superdome is equipped with Nortel Ethernet
Routing Switch and WLAN 2300 solutions designed to ensure seamless, secure and
constant wired and wireless network availability. Nortel's Communication
Server 1000 delivers the converged IP communications system offering a range
of telephony features and multimedia applications to users on the network.
Nortel's Global Services include a full range of integrated services for
design, deployment, management and maintenance of end-to-end multi-vendor
network solutions, including seamless migration to next generation
technologies.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities
that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and
secure and protect the world's most critical information. Our next-generation
technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core
networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help
eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying
networks and connecting people with information. Nortel does business in more
than 150 countries. 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. Nortel has made
various assumptions in the preparation of its financial outlook in this press
release, including the following company specific assumptions: no further
negative impact to Nortel's results of operations, financial condition and
liquidity arising from Nortel's restatements of its financial results;
Nortel's prices increasing at or above the rate of price increases for similar
products in geographic regions in which Nortel sells its products; increase in
sales to Nortel's enterprise customers and wireless service provider customers
in the Asia Pacific region as a result of Nortel's joint venture with LG
Electronics Inc.; anticipated growth in sales to enterprise customers,
including the full year impact to Nortel's revenues from its acquisition of
PEC Solutions, Inc., (now Nortel Government Solutions Incorporated);
improvement in Nortel's product costs due to favorable supplier pricing
substantially offset by higher costs associated with initial customer
deployments in emerging markets; cost reductions resulting from the completion
of Nortel's significant financial restatements and 2004 restructuring plan; a
moderate increase in costs over 2005 related to investments in the finance
organization and remedial measures related to Nortel's material weaknesses in
internal controls; increased employee costs relative to expected cost of
living adjustments and employee bonuses offset by a significant reduction in
executive recruitment and severance costs incurred in 2005; and the effective
execution of Nortel's strategy. Nortel has also made certain macroeconomic and
general industry assumptions in the preparation of its financial guidance
including: a modest growth rate in the gross domestic product of global
economies in the range of 3.9% which is higher than the growth rate in 2005;
global service provider capital expenditures in 2006 reflecting mid to high
single digit growth as compared to low double digit growth in 2005; a general
increase in demand for broadband access, data traffic and wireless
infrastructure and services in emerging markets with the rate of growth in
developed markets beginning to slow; and a moderate impact as a result of
expected industry consolidation among service providers in various geographic
regions, particularly in North America and EMEA. The above assumptions,
although considered reasonable by Nortel at the date of this press release,
may prove to be inaccurate and consequently Nortel's actual results could
differ materially from its expectations set out in this press release.
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 objectives, including completion of the sale of its UMTS access
business to Alcatel; 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 planned 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
Report 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.
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