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The Commonwealth Youth Games 2008, recently held in Pune, India from October 12 to 18, ran on a next-generation data network infrastructure set up by Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT].

The always-on, highly available network supporting 1,000 users, ran multimedia applications including real-time schedule updating, statistical analysis, resource coordination and media coverage helping ensure the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008** (CYG 2008) ran smoothly.

The CYG 2008 Committee chose Nortel because of its track record of being selected as the Official Converged Network Equipment Supplier for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the Official Network Infrastructure Partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition the company deployed the communications networks for major sporting events such as the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Ireland in 2003. One of the key selection criteria for technology vendors for the CYG 2008 Pune was to have provided IT solutions for at least one Olympic, Asian or Commonwealth Games in the last five years.

“Nortel came with great references as it has been chosen to provide the networking infrastructure for the upcoming two Olympic Games. In addition, Nortel’s past experience supporting the sporting events at Turin and Ireland was a major reason for us to select them for the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008” says Vijay Gautam, IT Secretary, Government of India.

CYG 2008 Pune included 1,300 athletes and 350 officials from 71 countries. The Games were held on a campus spread over 200 acres, housing nearly 30 buildings.

“We needed the ability to share information instantly in a manner that united many different applications across many different devices for many different users. To make this a reality, we required a highly reliable network that would work across the campus, and be flexible to the users wherever they were,” says Rohit Srivastwa, director Technology, CYG 2008, Pune. “With the Nortel solution and design, we did not see any downtime. And that helped us make the CYG 2008, Pune a huge success.”

“This builds on our strong momentum in delivering the ultimate experience for the fans and participants of the Games. We have recently won deals to outfit some of the world’s most sophisticated sports stadiums and more importantly, the next Summer and Winter Olympic Games will be brought to you by Nortel,” says Hitesh Lokhandwala, managing director, Nortel India. “It was a very complex design, which our team worked hard to simplify. And with our next-generation switches, the business of conducting this mega sporting event had become simple.”

The CYG 2008, Pune network was able to support 1000 users at a time, and was running several online software applications to track the various events. The gaming statistics software ran on the network to capture all current action and produce accurate results of each event, real-time event analyses and comparative information on records established.

Hundreds of volunteers were deployed to assist in the various events of CYG 2008, Pune. The Nortel network running the software coordinated the movements of these volunteers on a real-time basis. Various media teams covering the CYG 2008 used the network to compile reports and sent it to their broadcasting teams. Online broadcast of the schedule of events and the participants was also updated on a real-time basis over the Nortel network.

With so much activity happening simultaneously, the network was required to be completely reliable. Nortel solutions built in redundancy, as well as resiliency through a sub-second failover architecture - ensuring that if any network element failed, a back-up solution took over within a second, with no interruption and no drop in performance.

Nortel scored over other vendors in being able to give a solution which would accommodate all the connectivity requirements of the organizers. For instance, the network had to support fiber as well as copper termination interfaces: Nortel’s Ethernet Routing Switches (ERS) 5530 were capable of supporting both interfaces, while the solutions from other vendors could support only one interface.

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About Commonwealth Youth Games 2008, Pune

The Commonwealth Youth Games embody the spirit of humanity, achievement and harmony. Pune, as the host city for the Third Commonwealth Youth Games, inherently prides itself of all these noble values. Over 1,300 athletes and 350 officials from 71 countries will participate in these games, in nine disciplines - Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling are included in the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008. Apart from the athletes, team officials and Games technical Conduct Officials, there will be representatives from the National and International Federations along with representatives of Print and Electronic media.

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.

*Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.
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