TORONTO -- Nortel (NYSE:NT)(TSX:NT) today announced that Rogers Cable, Canada's largest cable television company, has selected Nortel as its primary softswitch vendor to support delivery of digital phone service and other new voice and data services across its service areas. Rogers plans to begin launching Digital Phone service in mid-2005.

Rogers passes 3.3 million homes in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and has 69 percent basic cable penetration of its homes passed.

"Rogers shares Nortel's vision of enhancing the human experience through communications," said Dan Mondor, general manager, Global Cable Solutions, Nortel. "We have committed the resources and focused investments in this space to enable cable operators like Rogers to bring to market innovative new services that can enhance the human experience through communications."

"The majority of cable operators around the globe who have chosen to deploy cable telephony have selected Nortel cable voice over IP solutions," Mondor said. "We are honored that many of the world's leading cable companies recognize the strength of Nortel's solutions."

Rogers Digital Phone service will leverage the company's advanced DOCSIS broadband cable network combined with Nortel's Communication Server (CS) 2000 - Compact, the industry's only softswitch that is PacketCable qualified in both North America (CableLabs) and Europe (Euro-Cable Certification Board). Nortel will also provide Rogers with Nuera's ORCA BTX-4K, a high-density media gateway providing PacketCable compliant trunking access to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

Nortel Networks Ltd.

Rogers Cable Inc.