ACADEMIA

LONDON, UK -- Neos, the UK's premier Ethernet Service Provider (ESP), has chosen Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) (TSX:NT.) to upgrade Neosnet, its UK optical backbone network, to directly carry Gigabit Ethernet traffic over dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) channels. Neos' use of the high-density Ethernet transport capability on Nortel Networks OPTera Long Haul 1600 Optical Line System is expected to be the first operational deployment of its kind in the world. Nortel Networks and Neos plan to complete the Neosnet upgrade by the end of August 2002. The Gigabit Ethernet capability of OPTera Long Haul 1600 builds on Nortel Networks existing Optical Ethernet solution. OPTera Long Haul 1600 will position Neos to maximise data throughput, providing up to eight Gigabit Ethernet Services per wavelength. "This represents a natural evolution of Ethernet services in the wide area national network space, which will lead to a strong take up due to their plug-and-play nature," said Camille Mendler, director of European fixed telecoms services at the Yankee Group. "Such services are attractive to both large and small businesses looking not only for better price performance but also flexibility in their communications infrastructures." The upgraded Neosnet will position customers to leverage the ubiquity of Ethernet in enterprise networks, thereby minimising the number of routers that must be equipped with expensive WAN ports. Moreover, Neos' customers will be able to take full advantage of Neos' Liquid Bandwidth Ethernet, which provides soft-provisioned Ethernet bandwidth upgrades in increments from 1 megabit to 1 gigabit per second. Using its new Web site, Neos plans to offer on-line bandwidth orders with 48-hour delivery, a 96 percent improvement over the current 60-day delivery time. By leveraging Nortel Networks OPTera Long Haul 1600 to carry Ethernet traffic natively over DWDM, Neos customers will be able to benefit from a lower cost, "de-layered" infrastructure. OPTera Long Haul 1600 will also position Neos to provide greater reliability, higher throughput, and higher data integrity through a standardized transport mechanism in local, metropolitan and wide area networks. Customers will also benefit from using the simple, easy-to-operate interface to which they are accustomed with enterprise Ethernet networks. "In upgrading Neosnet, our MPLS-enabled UK national Ethernet network, we have yet again dramatically extended the service price/performance metrics in favour of our customers, without incurring the unnecessary capital expense of legacy technologies such as SMDS, frame relay and ATM," said John Wheeler, chief executive officer, Neos. "Nortel Networks strength is in its depth of expertise -- a market leader in both long haul optical networking, and the rapidly emerging Optical Ethernet market." "Our work with Neos is an excellent example of the true, end-to-end value that we can provide to our customers, both in the enterprise and service provider space," said Peter Newcombe, president, Optical Networks for Nortel Networks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "Having previously constructed a 1.6 terabits per second capable optical backbone for Neos in the UK, we are now able to supplement that with our data expertise to provide Optical Ethernet services." Neos is the UK's premier Ethernet Service Provider (ESP), having created the UK market for national Ethernet services in 2001. Neos operates Neosnet, the UK's only Layer 2 MPLS Ethernet network, providing national and metro Gigabit Ethernet network services featuring Liquid Bandwidth to more than 100 carrier customers and 170 corporations and public sector organisations. Neosnet features a national layer 2 MPLS Ethernet network which interconnects the major business conurbations in the UK with access to over 100 POPs nationwide, as well as one of the densest network offerings in the Greater London area, Neosnet Metro, which provides an independent broadband interconnection of co-location sites to 30 POPs and access to a further 17,000 network nodes within the M25.