China's Ministry of Railways Chooses Nortel Mobile Network to Enable
High-Speed Railway to Run Smoother
GSM-R Wireless Staff Communication and Signaling Optimize Train
Performance
BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwire - January 29, 2008) - China's Ministry of
Railways (MOR) has gained powerful communications and train
management capabilities for its busy system after selecting GSM-R
mobile communications railway technology from Nortel(1) (TSX:
NT)(NYSE: NT). The highly secure wireless network provides new
communications capabilities between trains and ground staff along the
510 km high-speed passenger line between Zhengzhou and Xi'an.
With fast trains traveling at speeds of up to 350 km/hr, conventional
mobile networks are not reliable enough to depend on for critical
communications. Purpose-built for such applications, the Nortel GSM-R
solution enables drivers, dispatchers, shunting team members, train
engineers, station controllers and other railway employees to reach
each other anywhere along the line, even at full speed. Features such
as group calls, connections based on the train's position,
prioritization of calls during emergencies, and connection to
employees by function rather than name all ensure the rapid response
necessary for safe and efficient train operation.
In May 2006, Nortel signed an agreement with MOR to deploy GSM-R to
seven of MOR's 19 switching centers, at Xi'an, Chengdu, Harbin,
Nanchang, Lanzhou, Kunming and Urumqi. As a significant component of
the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERMTS), GSM-R reliably
transports voice, data, and advanced European Train Control System-2
(ETCS-2) signaling data even at high speeds. This will enable MOR to
safely maximize traffic on the Zhengzhou-Xi'an line, a significant
rail route that is expected to promote trade and economic exchanges
between eastern and western China. The Nortel GSM-R solution
deployment also marks the first commercial operation of this kind on
a dedicated passenger line (DPL) running up to 350 km/hr on the
ETCS-2 in China.
"With its massive population and distributed manufacturing base,
high-speed rail transportation has long been essential to China's
economic success," said Jackson Wu, president, Greater China, Nortel.
"Nortel was an early provider of GSM-R solutions, applying our
Business Made Simple commitment to dozens of successful deployments
on some of the world's most complex rail networks. The Ministry of
Railways' decision to embrace GSM-R brings this critical rail link in
line with global standards and ensures Chinese passengers will
benefit from train services running at peak efficiency and safety."
Nortel has over 10 years' experience with GSM-R mobile communications
technology and supplies solutions to 60 percent of the more than
100,000 km of tracks currently using the system. Currently providing
GSM-R on three continents, Nortel is the provider with the biggest
footprint in the industry. Nortel has national GSM-R contracts in
France, Germany, the UK and Austria as well as large GSM-R
deployments in Algeria, China, the Czech Republic, Italy, India,
Slovakia, Spain, and recently in Lithuania.
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.
(1)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel
Networks.
Contacts:
Nortel
Cici Liu
8610-6510-7109
Email: ciciliu@nortel.com
Website: www.nortel.com