ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- JSC Kazakhtelecom is making telephone services and new multimedia applications more widely available across Kazakhstan with a nationwide next-generation network (NGN) from Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT). JSC Kazakhtelecom, the country´s largest communications operator, has made a US multi-million dollar investment in its network evolution to create the first nationwide NGN in the Confederation of Independent States.

The new network will improve the availability and quality of long-distance communications as well as deliver high-speed, high-bandwidth communication services for corporate and private users in Kazakhstan.

Nortel supplied project design, equipment and development services for the JSC Kazakhtelecom NGN project, while Russian Jet Infosystems - Nortel´s Carrier VoIP Service and Solution Partner - provided installation, deployment, testing and connection services.

"The deployment of this NGN means that telecommunications in Kazakhstan is entering a new era," said Askar Zhumagaliev, CEO, JSC Kazakhtelecom. "With Nortel´s NGN solution, the JSC Kazakhtelecom fixed-line network has been transformed into an IP-network that will make it possible to provide more customers with voice and multimedia services without increasing operating costs."

"This project is important for Nortel as a showcase for how our technology can be used to simplify network enhancement and expansion," said Peter Newcombe, president, Carrier Networks EMEA, Nortel. "JSC Kazakhtelecom´s network is now IMS-ready and on the road to ensuring users in Kazakhstan have the advantages of anywhere, anytime communications on any device or application."

Nortel Networks Ltd.