NORTEL NETWORKS : Strengthens Data Solutions with New Ethernet Switches

New 5600 Series Delivers Industry-Leading Performance,
Cost-Effectiveness, Reliability

BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS--(Marketwire - January 12, 2009) - Nortel(1)
(TSX: NT)(NYSE: NT) extended its Ethernet series of data solutions
today by unveiling the new Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 5600 family
to enable a more cost-effective, flexible and reliable deployment of
high-capacity, high-performance networks that provide critical
competitive advantage for enterprises.

"This is more than a new line of stackable switches for traditional
deployments. Given the performance and resiliency they bring to the
data center environment, this new line offers enterprises flexibility
at a very aggressive price point," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice
president, Yankee Group(2). "This bolsters Nortel's unified
communications solution portfolio, but more importantly, it
demonstrates that Nortel is moving forward in designing new products
that represent strong offerings and commitment to the enterprise
market."

This new line of high-end, stackable Nortel switches was designed and
engineered from the ground up to be a break from the evolutionary
approach to building data products to deliver real-time unified
communications with market-leading performance and features. The five
switches in the new ERS 5600 series offer up to 18 times the stacking
performance, up to twice the capacity, and up to seven-times the
resiliency of the stackable switches from the primary competition, at
a fraction of the expense.

"Nortel's solution provides the base for unified communications and
simplifies our network infrastructure, providing industry-leading
functionality and performance combined with excellent throughput,
reliability and affordability," said Allen Frost, network architect,
Novell(2). "It also requires less equipment and that translates to
savings in terms of capital and operational costs. The ERS 5600
switches proved to be simple to deploy, and we anticipate significant
productivity enhancements as well as ongoing cost savings with this
data networking solution."

"Enterprises recognize the power of unified communications - the
challenge is how to get there from here," said Joel Hackney,
president, Enterprise Solutions, Nortel. "Step one is deploying a
powerful, high-performance data network, because without it, the
infrastructure won't support video and real-time apps critical to
unified communications. The new family of Nortel Ethernet switches we
are introducing today are designed to not only deliver that
performance needed to today, but to accommodate the evolving needs
and capacity unified communications will require in the future. This
confirms Nortel's commitment to the needs of the enterprise market as
we continue to develop and deliver solutions designed to increase
competitiveness and decrease operating costs."

The Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 5600 has been designed as a cost
effective and reliable switch not only suitable for deployment in the
data center, but advanced features also enable the switches to be
used in the edge, distribution and core layers of the network. The
5600 switches are stack-compatible with the existing ERS 5500
switches, allowing a mix of port speeds and densities to meet any
application while preserving existing investments. The new models are
all with integrated with industry-leading 10 Gigabit uplink capacity.
The 5600 also includes a model with support for up to 96 Gigabit
power over Ethernet ports. This power over Ethernet capacity in a
stackable switch allows for cost-effective, high-density UC
deployments - and is only available from Nortel.

Finland-based reseller, Nordic Lan&Wan(2), has enjoyed significant
penetration across a number of customer segments with the Nortel ERS
5000 portfolio. "We're very happy with the ERS 5000 products. The
latest feature enhancements of the new 5600 models really simplify
network planning and design. In particular, the flexibility and
performance of the new line mitigates the risks inherent in deploying
high-performance networks and provides excellent investment
protection," said Juha Pasanen, service director, Nordic Lan&Wan.

The Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 5600 portfolio is generally
available now.

Nortel data solutions are third-party proven to deliver 20 times the
performance, seven times the resiliency at 50 percent of the total
cost of ownership compared to the primary competition.(3)

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications
capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality
for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service
provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and
business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to
help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance
by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they
need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150
countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the
Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit
www.nortel.com/news.

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as
"could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends",
"estimates", "targets", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar
language and are considered forward-looking statements or information
under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based
on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and
projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in
which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important
assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict
and the actual outcome may be materially different from those
contemplated in forward-looking statements. For additional
information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see
Nortel's Annual Report on Form10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required
by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel
Networks.

(2)This is a 3rd party link as described in our Web linking
practices.

Use of the terms "partner" and "partnership" does not imply a legal
partnership between Nortel and any other party.

(3)The Tolly Group Report Number 208298, July 2008, reported the
results of a power consumption evaluation of six Nortel converged
data network products consisting of large and medium core and wiring
closet Ethernet Routing Switches (ERS), enterprise branch office
routers, and IP phones compared to similar Cisco products on the
basis of power consumption and heat dissipation, and five-year
operational cost. See also the Tolly Group Report Number 208275,
January 2008, and Info-Tech Research Group Report (January 30,
2008).


Contacts:
Nortel
Pat Cooper
[phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Nortel
Greta Brown
[phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.nortel.com


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