Nortel Networks to Make Additional Investment in Optical Internet Market

TORONTO, Feb. 21 -- Nortel Networks has announced plans to invest an additional $260 million in its optical networking and components business. This follows the company's November 1999 announcement of a $400-million investment in the optical networking market. Nortel said these investments, and the company's expected tripling of production capacity in 2000, are its response to increasing customer demand for optical Internet systems and components.
Nortel plans to distribute the investment funds as follows: $186 million is to be funneled to the company's Canadian operations, with $102 million going to Ottawa and &336;84 million to Montreal. The company will invest an additional $64 million in its facilities in Paignton and Monkstown in the UK, with the final $10 million to be dispersed among Nortel's other global operations facilities. The company expects these investments to create 3,400 new high-tech positions worldwide in the areas of manufacturing, engineering, supply chain management, and customer service.