TORONTO, Dec. 28, 2005 -- Canadian communications equipment maker Nortel has agreed to buy San Jose, Calif.-based Tasman Networks, a manufacturer of networking routers established in 1997, for $99.5 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006. Nortel says the deal will strengthen its position as a provider of IP telephony and multimedia networks. The company says it plans to market Tasman's wide-area network IP routers as part of Nortel's secure router product line to provide voice, VPN (virtual private network), firewall and other services to customers. For more information, visit: www.nortel.com