Southern Cross Cables has selected Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: 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, VP Operations, Southern Cross.

"As demand grows for more bandwidth-sapping services like streaming high-definition video, we needed to increase our capacity without compromising the reliability of the network," says Veverka. "Nortel's technology gives us a simple, cost-effective upgrade to 40G and an equally simple upgrade path to 100G in the future. We are also looking at the potential for this 40G technology to be deployed on our longer distance submarine segments. This ensures our service provider customers are guaranteed high levels of service as they continue to meet demand for innovative services in their respective markets."

"The need for faster, high-bandwidth services is growing, particularly in the large corporate and enterprise sectors where applications like HD video conferencing are gaining in popularity," says Anthony Mclachlan, VP Carrier Networks, Asia. "At the same time the Australian government has committed to build a high-speed, fibre-based broadband network for the majority of the population over the next four years, meaning consumer demand will also increase as the shackles of the country's slower fixed line services are broken in the coming years."

"Nortel's 40G technology provides the region's major broadband providers like Southern Cross the means to supply their customers with the network scalability they need well into the future," says Mclachlan. "Most importantly, our 40G technology provides simple upgrade to 40G and beyond without reinvesting in or modifying their core infrastructure - retaining their networks' reliability - and creating additional revenue streams by fast tracking their ability to on-sell additional bandwidth."

Nortel's solution for Southern Cross is based on Nortel's flagship OME 6500, an optical convergence platform that supports transponding, TDM and Ethernet switching on a single device, allowing service providers a smooth migration to a reliable and scalable Ethernet infrastructure while maintaining minimal infrastructure costs. The OME 6500 features Nortel's unique electronic dynamically compensating optics (eDCO) technology that enables fiber spans of up to 2,000 kilometers without the need for costly regeneration equipment. OME 6500 has been deployed in over 200 networks globally, including with Verizon Business across Europe and Asia.

Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research**, said that growing traffic patterns are causing bandwidth constraints in carrier networks worldwide, and so carriers are adding network capacity and also getting in position to add capacity more rapidly. "Nortel's 40G/100G solution is particularly intriguing because it allows carriers the use their existing 10G network with minor upgrades to deliver 40G and all of the new capabilities that affords. The savings in terms of equipment costs, training, maintenance, and operations are reduced accordingly," Howard said. 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.

About Southern Cross Southern Cross Cable Network provides the fastest, most direct, and most secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to the heart of the Internet in the USA. The two Southern Cross submarine communications cables were first commissioned in November 2000 and January 2001 at a cost of USD1.3 billion. They provide Australasian broadband users with international connections to the US West coast where global Internet hubs are located. The Southern Cross Network has been engineered until 2025. In 2001 total installed capacity was 80 Gbps, in January 2003 the total network was expanded to 480 Gbps and by end-2008 total installed capacity will be 860 Gbps. With new technology continually improving potential transmission speeds, the ultimate size of the Southern Cross Cable Network is likely to considerably exceed the current limit of 2.4 Tbps.

Southern Cross Cable Network is owned by Telecom NZ (50%), Singtel-Optus (40%) and Verizon Business (10%). The company has offices in Bermuda, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington. For more information visit Southern Cross at: http://www.southerncrosscables.com.

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