Nortel Provides GSM-Railway Communications for ADIF in Spain

ERTMS Project Increases Safety and Efficiency on Spanish and Cross Border High-Speed Train Routes

MADRID - Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT ] has been selected by Spain’s national railway infrastructure company, ADIF, to implement, operate and maintain a complete GSM-R radio communication solution on the new Barcelona-Figueres high-speed line. The contract value is estimated at over EUR 21 million (US$ 27 million).

Nortel’s GSM-R technology will help increase the efficiency and safety of the railway by supporting reliable and secure communications among railway operational staff including drivers, dispatchers, train engineers and station controllers. GSM-R is part of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) standard that combines GSM-R for voice communication and European Train Control System (ETCS) for signaling systems. ERTMS carries the signaling information directly to the train driver, enabling faster train speeds and increased traffic density while maintaining a high level of safety.

This new GSM-R project by ADIF links the Spanish Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line with Figueres-Perpignan that crosses the Spanish and French border. The international Figueres-Perpignan high-speed line also has a GSM-R network deployed by Nortel. Consistency in network technologies by Nortel ensures the interoperability of the Spanish line network with the French and other European high-speed railway networks. The development of European high-speed corridors is a priority project for the European Commission and this particular project closes an important gap in the ETCS rail corridor that connects Madrid to Paris, Zurich and Milan.

The new high-speed line, planned for commercial operation in 2012, will accommodate trains running at speeds of up to 350 km per hour. The line has been designed not only for passenger traffic but also for freight traffic originating or terminating at Port of Barcelona, the top Spanish port for international traffic and one of the major ports in the Mediterranean and Southern Europe.

“This contract is the first with ADIF for a high-speed line, extending our global market leadership in GSM-R ,” said Fernando Valdivielso, vice president, Nortel Iberia. “Our experience deploying GSM-R networks worldwide was a key factor for ADIF’s decision to award this contract to Nortel.”

Under the current contract, Nortel will supply a complete GSM-R radio solution with network management, as well as services including network implementation and network design. The contract also includes a three-year network operation and maintenance contract.

Nortel has over 15 years experience with GSM-R mobile communications technology. With more than 60 percent of the more than 115,000 km of tracks using the GSM-R system, Nortel is the number one GSM-R provider globally. Nortel has been awarded national GSM-R contracts in Austria , France , Germany , Lithuania , Algeria and the UK as well as large GSM-R deployments in China , the Czech Republic , Italy , India , Slovakia , and in Spain .

Nortel is one of the leading subsystem suppliers for ERTMS projects, including the Eastern European Line connecting Paris to Strasbourg in France; the Rome - Naples line in Italy; the Jueterborg - Leipzig line in Germany; the Prague - Kolinor line in Czech Republic; and the Plovdiv - Svilengrad line in Bulgaria.