Nortel Links Chinese Campuses

BEIJING -- China's University of Petroleum (UPC), a major engineering university, is enhancing the network connecting its three separate campuses with a Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT) solution to improve communications and ensure easy online access to advanced learning resources for 40,000 students.

Connecting existing UPC campus networks in Beijing, and Dongying and Qingdao in East China's oil-rich Shandong province, the upgraded Nortel communications platform supports the exchange of information in real-time, regardless of location, as well as access to high-bandwidth, Internet-based services such as distance learning, Web-based multimedia collaboration, video conferencing and VoIP.

"With campuses located in three remote locations, converging our multiple voice and data networks into a single infrastructure provides a powerful platform for meeting the evolving communication needs of students, teachers and the university administration," said Wang Jian, director of the Information Center at the University of Petroleum, East China. "Nortel supplied the converged campus networks for our two Shandong campuses in 2004, and the Beijing network the following year. The performance, reliability and stability of these networks were key factors in selecting Nortel to implement the next phase of improvements to our network."

"Whether students attend classes in Beijing or at a Shandong campus, or pursue studies remotely as one of UPC's 6,000 online students, the ability to use the Internet for interactive multimedia collaboration and real-time access to UPC's teaching and research resources makes an important contribution to their educational experience," said Stephen Tsui, chief operating officer and president, Enterprise Solutions, Greater China, Nortel. "Empowering schools and universities with access to the latest networking technologies is a strong component of Nortel's commitment to China."

Nortel Networks Ltd.