WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Southern Cross Cables has selected Nortel(1) (TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) 40G optical technology to help meet demand for bandwidth from service provider customers in Asia Pacific for high-speed services and applications like IPTV and HD video. The Southern Cross network provides the major link for Internet traffic from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to the US, as well as linking Hawaii to the US mainland.

Southern Cross is upgrading its terrestrial optical network in the USA from its current 10G technology to 40G to give its customers the means to serve bandwidth-intensive applications like high-definition video conferencing, and at a lower cost than has been possible until now.

Nortel's solution enables Southern Cross to provide four times the bandwidth with a simple card upgrade, removing the need for costly and complex infrastructure changes. As well, Nortel's 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine will in future be able to deliver speeds of up to 100G or 10 times the current offering - all with the same ease and simplicity of today's 10G networks. The same 40G platform can be extended on to Southern Cross' submarine segments.

"We've been using Nortel's optical solutions on our long haul terrestrial segments to build a fast, secure platform for internet-based services for customers and end-users," says Dean Veverka, vice-president, Operations, Southern Cross.

Southern Cross Cables Ltd.