Nortel, NDS Unite to Create New IPTV Capabilities

New Reseller and Joint Marketing Agreement to Deliver Advanced Communications Services with IPTV Middleware

LONDON, UK – Nortel [NYSE/TSX: NT] and NDS Group [NASDAQ:NDS], a leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, announced they are collaborating on a new set of IPTV services for the European market that will dramatically change today’s television experience through the convergence of entertainment and communications.

Nortel has signed a global reseller and joint marketing agreement with NDS, and the companies are working together to facilitate the integration of Nortel’s voice and multimedia features into the TV environment.

Plans include integrating Nortel’s voice and multimedia products into NDS’ MediaHighway middleware, to produce a new set of communications services for television. The expected result will be one of the most advanced and feature-rich middleware products in the television distribution industry, giving IPTV service providers a powerful platform to attract and retain customers. The solution will deliver an enriched user experience through the ability to control various communication services from the TV. Planned features include caller ID, call handling, address book, click-to-dial, call-logs, IM messaging and other IP-based communication services.

“We chose NDS because it is a leader in the digital broadcast industry and has a proven middleware product that is well suited for IPTV communications integration,” said George Riedel, chief strategy officer, Nortel. “Working together we can deliver a new set of exciting services which blend TV entertainment with voice and multimedia services.”

“NDS is delighted to be working with Nortel on new IPTV products that will set us apart from the rest of the industry,” said Nigel Smith, vice president, NDS Broadband Internet Group. “Nortel’s strength in voice and multimedia, coupled with its IPTV systems integration capability, is a perfect complement to our middleware portfolio and to our experience in digital broadcasting”

Both companies fundamentally support the use of open standards and open architecture. Nortel is an active leader and contributor in the IPTV standards bodies while NDS’ MediaHighway is based on an open architecture, relying on Java and HTML for maximum flexibility, which allows new features to be easily integrated into the IPTV platform for faster time-to-market and enhanced competitive advantage for service providers. Its open application programming interfaces also support highly customizable program guides, and an impressive array of advanced gaming and interactive capabilities. The use of open standards encourages the growth of the developer community, which promotes innovation and the continuous creation of new applications.

The first demonstration of a solution from the Nortel and NDS collaboration will be debuted at IPTV World Forum (5-7 March 2007, Olympia, London) in booths 139 (Nortel) and 140 (NDS).