Field Trial With Nortel Achieves Better Tolerance for Signal Distortion

Than Standard 10G Transmission

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon's latest trial of 100G optical transmission technology performed with better tolerance for signal distortion than typically found in today's standard wavelength of 10G. This is a significant next step toward the commercialization of 100G transmission.

Transporting data over 73 kilometers of field fiber in northeastern Texas at a 92 Gbps (gigabits per second) rate, the recent trial demonstrated twice the tolerance for signal distortion when compared with today's standard 10G signal. The Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 convergence platform equipped with 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine technology integrates advanced signal-processing techniques that maintain sustained signal integrity despite significant polarization mode dispersion (PMD). PMD, a natural impairment of optical fiber transmission, causes a signal to distort as it travels along the optical fiber. This results in imperfections when the signal arrives at the receiver end and limits the amount of data that can be transmitted.

"This latest trial further illustrates Verizon's keen interest in viable 100G technologies," said Mark Wegleitner, Verizon's senior vice president of technology. "Each advance we make moves the Verizon network closer to commercial deployment of reliable higher-bandwidth speeds on the backbone to serve our customers' needs - whether it's voice, video or data."

Philippe Morin, president of Metro Ethernet Networks for Nortel, said, "As Verizon prepares to meet increasing demand for bandwidth-intensive services like multimedia conferencing and HD video, it faces a complex challenge of increasing network capacity while maintaining existing infrastructure. Nortel's 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine allows Verizon to deploy higher-capacity transmission systems over any fiber in their existing network without extensive re-engineering. This capability already is commercialized in our 40G technology and will be a key differentiator for our 100G solution."

Working with some of the industry's major equipment suppliers, Verizon is pursuing commercial deployment of 100G technology. On Sept. 25, Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks announced that they had successfully transmitted data at 100G on a single wavelength for more than 1,040 kilometers, setting a new distance record over deployed fiber and demonstrating better performance than conventional transmission. In November 2007, Verizon and Alcatel-Lucent transmitted a commercial information package - a FiOS video stream - between Tampa, Fla., and Miami at 100G for the first time over a live network

In the Nortel trial, Verizon transmitted the 100G traffic error-free using an advanced signal-processing method and signal-correcting techniques embedded in Nortel's technology. Preserving the level of quality for high-speed traffic is important for such ultra-long-haul network strategies as mesh architecture. Verizon is a global leader in mesh architecture, which provides more alternate paths to reroute traffic in the event of a network disruption. Maintaining signal quality becomes critical when the signal has to travel through multiple nodes and for long distances.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 63.7 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of nearly 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

About Nortel

Nortel (NYSE/TSX: NT) 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.

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SOURCE Verizon