Nortel to Establish New R&D Center in Bangalore

BANGALORE - Nortel [NYSE/TSX: NT] is establishing a Nortel Technology Excellence Center (NTEC) in Bangalore, India, focused on new product design, development and testing.

Located in Bangalore's IBC Knowledge Park, Nortel's new 35,000 square foot facility is expected to employ more than 100 engineers by the end of 2006. Activities at the center will build on Nortel's existing capabilities in advanced routers, Ethernet switching, security and VoIP technologies. The NTEC will be led by K.C. Venugopal, founding member of Tasman Networks, a router company which was acquired by Nortel in February 2006. The center will initially house Tasman's original secure router R&D team, already based in Bangalore.

Nortel has developed working relationships with software houses such as Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Sasken Technologies. Nortel has also invested $10 million in Sasken to support its focus on Nortel's GSM digital wireless and enterprise communications solutions and to foster a role in training, technical support and other engineering services for Nortel projects in India.