Utfors, a visionary service provider in Scandinavia, and Nortel Networks* [NYSE/TSE: NT] are pioneering in Europe a new networking model that will provide voice and high-speed Internet Protocol (IP) services to businesses and consumers at substantially lower cost.

This high-performance network will leverage Nortel Networks' 10 Gigabit Ethernet, a disruptive technology that uses Ethernet as the pervasive interface across the entire network, for as much as a 25x improvement in network price/performance.

"By working with Nortel Networks, we are creating a new business model that could fundamentally change the economics of the Internet service provider industry," said Sten Nordell, chief technology officer, Utfors. "Utfors intends to provide high-speed combined voice and data IP services to both consumers and businesses."

Launched today, Nortel Networks' end-to-end optical Ethernet portfolio is the industry's first complete, end-to-end solution for seamless connections from the core network to the desktop exclusively using Ethernet protocol. Utfors will use this solution to build Europe's first end-to-end Ethernet network.

Nortel Networks' optical Ethernet portfolio leverages the company's global market leadership in optical networking, and in development of the emerging IEEE 10-Gigabit Ethernet standard.

"This is a significant advance in networking technology, and a first for Europe," said Malcolm Collins, president, Next Generation Service Providers, Nortel Networks. "10 Gigabit Ethernet will play an increasingly important role in allowing service providers to deliver seamless, high-quality services to their customers through high-bandwidth optical networks. Nortel Networks is playing a major part in developing and building the optical Internet."

Nortel Networks is enabling service providers to build a complete, end-to-end optical network which uses Ethernet as its interface -- seamlessly tying together residential, campus, regional, wide-area, and optical networks - through one ubiquitous, high-speed technology operating at 10/100/1000 Mbps and 10 Gigabit levels.

"Nortel Networks continues to drive the Internet revolution. The end-to-end optical Ethernet solution leverages our number-one global optical networking leadership and advanced switching and routing technologies to unify the private and public worlds of telecommunications. This simplification results in higher performance at lower cost for users and service providers," said Bill Hawe, chief technology officer, Nortel Networks.

"The market is in the midst of the Ethernet renaissance. Ethernet has become the compelling interface across many types of networking equipment and service provider access solutions. We are continually driving its cost down and its performance up," continued Hawe. "We are working to bring 10 Gigabits per second Ethernet to market. Nortel Networks has now brought this Ethernet renaissance into the Optical Internet."

http://www.nortelnetworks.com/corporate/news/newsreleases/2000a/03_22_0000032_utfors.html