Nortel wins Verizon packet switch contract

Nortel Networks announced today that it has signed a five-year deal with Verizon Communications to provide packet switching infrastructure equipment.

The deal, which allows Nortel to be the exclusive provider of packet switching for the first 18 months, marks a significant milestone for Verizon. The country’s largest local provider previously had deployed Nortel gear in its intra-city network as well as its long distance network last year. Additionally, the company has previously used Sonus Networks’ voice over IP gateways for some of its long distance traffic since 1999.

Today’s announcement covers the local network and will include deployment of Nortel’s Succession carrier VoIP solutions and Multimedia Communications portfolio. Additionally, Verizon will distribute Nortel’s enterprise IP Telephony portfolio.

"The contract covers our entire portfolio," said Sue Spradley, president of wireline networks for Nortel. "We’ve already started the work and have teams in place."

For Nortel, the contract marks perhaps its most significant contract win since a deal last year with Bell Canada ( http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_nortel_gets_big/index.htm). That deal, which also revolved around the Succession and Multimedia Communications lines, also included the establishment of two technology centers in Canada where the carrier and the vendor will develop new applications.