Sprint Corp's Local Telecommunications Division has awarded Nortel Networks Corp a four-year, $1.1 billion supply and services contract.
Under this agreement, Sprint will "leverage Nortel Networks expertise to deliver a seamless network migration" - combining three separate networks into a single, converged network for voice, data and private line services, Sprint said in a statement.
Sprint plans to transform its network to such packet technology over an eight-year period. The agreement with Nortel Networks covers 100 per cent of Sprint's planned first phase, a four-year activity expected to begin in Jan 2003.
Nortel Networks expects to ship the first equipment under the agreement in the fourth quarter of 2001, with initial deployment by Sprint in 2002 and volume shipments by Nortel Networks beginning in 2003.
AFP