Nortel Notches China Deals

Nortel said two Chinese telecom carriers have ordered its multi-service switches as part of data network expansion projects.

China Telecom will use Nortel’s Passport 7000 switches to bolster its ATM-based system, while China Netcom will use Passport 7000 and 15000 switches to boost capacity of its broadband Internet protocol network to handle new local high-speed users.

The exact value of the contracts was not disclosed, but Nortel spokeswoman Christie Blake told internetnews.com, that they were both multi-million dollar deals.

For Toronto’s Nortel, the deals help confirm its position in the Asia-Pacific market, where it has had a strong presence for years. China Telecom, for example, has been a Nortel customer since 1998. China Netcom is also a repeat customer, Blake said.

The company’s Passport switches have been the market share leader in the region since 2000, according to a recent Synergy Research Group report.

The orders from China come a week after Nortel won a deal to provide voice-over Internet protocol equipment to a South Korean service provider Dacom Corp.

In other overseas Nortel news, the company is expected to announced a $90 million deal with Israeli mobile operator Partner Communications. The contract is for third-generation wireless equipment, according to a report by Dow Jones news service.

The new deals, taken with other wins from Cisco , Lucent and others, seem to confirm the growing sentiment that carriers are beginning to spend on capital improvements projects again, especially for projects that will allow them to deliver new, revenue-generating services to customers.