Nortel Wins Verizon Wireless Deal

One day after announcing a major partnership with Microsoft Corp., Nortel Networks on Wednesday said it has won a deal to upgrade Verizon Wireless's high-speed network beginning in the third quarter. Financial details were not disclosed

Verizon Wireless, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., is currently testing new low-latency applications with Nortel EV-DO Rev. A technology. The applications include push-to-talk, fixed mobile convergence, voice over Internet protocol and messaging services.

"Nortel's EV-DO Rev. A solution allows Verizon Wireless to introduce new, real-time services such as video and other streaming media that rely on quality of services capabilities, " Doug Wolff, a vice president and general manager for Toronto-based Nortel, said in a statement.

Nortel's EV-DO Rev. A technology is capable of providing peak data rates of up to 3.1 Mbps on information flowing to the mobile phone subscribers. For information flowing back to the wireless operators, the top speed is 1.8 Mbps. Verizon Wireless uses a CDMA network for high-speed services.

Verizon Wireless has been a customer of Nortel for more than a decade.On Tuesday, Nortel announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft to provide software, hardware and consulting services to help companies migrate off of traditional telephone systems and onto a unified communications platform that encompasses email, instant messaging, Internet telephony, and multimedia conferencing.

Financial terms were not released, but under the four-year deal, Nortel would provide the services and networking technology and Microsoft the software to help companies transition from traditional PBX systems to Internet-based communications.