Nortel (Northern Telecom) Accelerates Attack Plan' with Expanded Capabilities
Merger Means Customers Win With Industry's Broadest
Portfolio of Network Solutions
TORONTO, Sept. 1 /CNW-PRN/ - John Roth, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Nortel (Northern Telecom) (NYSE: NT/TSE: NTL), and Dave House, the corporation's new president, today unveiled a new networking powerhouse, as a result of the largest merger in the history of data communications.
Roth and House spoke to more than 80,000 employees on a live video broadcast reaching 150 countries. Using a Nortel Passport frame-cell backbone network, it was one of the largest live closed-circuit broadcasts ever.
This merger is a giant step in accelerating the execution of Nortel's global strategy of delivering an unparalleled breadth of network technologies and solutions to our diversified and growing base of customers throughout the world,'' said Roth and House, who are sharing the newly created Office of the CEO. ''We are now unique in the industry -- we have the capability to supply not only a complete line of wireless and wireline solutions, but also end-to-end, IP-optimized solutions for wireline and wireless service providers, and enterprise customers.'' Roth outlined his priorities for the new Nortel, telling employees that his top objective is to maintain the momentum of the merger, which was approved by Bay shareholders at a special meeting August 28, the final legal hurdle in a two-and-a-half month process that also included approval from North American and European regulatory bodies.
This has been a merger in real time,'' said Roth. ''It's gratifying that we were able to complete it so quickly. The priority now is to move forward aggressively to successfully capitalize on the merger for the benefit of our customers.''
In describing how the merger fits with Nortel's strategic direction, Roth explained that it represents a ''continuation and acceleration of our game plan.''
With the merger and the associated organizational changes we're announcing today,'' he said, ''we've significantly stepped up and strengthened our attack plan, which is focused on delivering customer value in the converging telephony and internet marketplace. The new Nortel is aggressively moving forward with a powerful and expanded arsenal of network solutions for our service-provider and enterprise customers.''
He added: ''As part of our strategy we've been building strong capabilities far beyond our traditional strengths in digital switching -- for example, the development of across-the-board capabilities in wireless infrastructure solutions and top-of-class optical fiber transmission systems. Our merger with Bay broadens our competencies even further. The new Nortel now has nearly 15,000 employees with market-hardened packet-networking expertise. We are the clear leader when it comes to this critical competency of the future.''
House noted that given today's diverse customer network requirements, Nortel is the first company to offer both enterprises and service providers across-the-board expertise in every major communications technology, including Internet Protocol (IP), frame-relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), circuit-switching, broadband and narrowband wireless, and high-speed optical networking.
This is a new class of company for a new class of network,'' he said. ''As our customers make the transition with data networks and IP, our task is to keep them competitive by unifying the different technologies and solutions. Our intention is to provide the best of all worlds -- to enable customers to operate legacy and emerging networks and technologies as if they were one seamless network.''
remainder of story, check yahoo news |
