Nortel Opens in IstanbulNortel Opens in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) today announced the opening of its new Global Operations Center of Excellence in Istanbul to help provide enhanced technical support services to Nortel service provider customers around the world.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Nortel Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski said that this new Center of Excellence is an essential part of Nortel´s business transformation, supporting increased customer focus and growth initiatives aimed at improving Nortel´s global competitiveness and achieving double-digit operating margins. He called it "a significant step forward" in Nortel´s work to provide world-class service to customers, simplify operations and delivery, and enhance technical support.

"This is an important milestone in the Nortel story," Zafirovski said. "This Center is vital to improving customer support as we enter a new era of communications driven by the convergence of three powerful megatrends we believe are significantly changing the industry - hyperconnectivity, communications-enabled applications and true broadband."

The Global Operations Center of Excellence in Istanbul provides technical and operational support to Nortel customers deploying next-generation mobile, converged, metro Ethernet and optical networks. This includes product support for global customers, network technical support for customers in North America, and network integration and technical support for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Nortel Networks Ltd.