Nortel reassures over commitment to London 2012

Communications supplier says bankruptcy protection will not affect London Olympics

Nortel is a 2012 sponsor

Troubled communications supplier Nortel has insisted that its financial problems will not affect its ability to deliver its commitments for the London 2012 Olympics.

The company this week filed for bankruptcy protection after losing almost $7bn (£4.8bn) since 2005. Last month the New York Stock Exchange gave Nortel six months to bring its share price back above $1.

The vendor is a major sponsor of the London Olympics and there have been concerns raised over its ability to fulfil its financial and technical requirements. But Nortel insisted that its problems will not cause any adverse effects.

"Let me take the opportunity to reassure you that our commitment to the Games as a tier-one local sponsor and official network infrastructure provider remains unchanged, as does our commitment to all our customers," said Mario DiMascio, vice president for enterprise business, northern region, at Nortel.

"The solutions we are providing for the London 2012 Olympic Games are among the most demanding communications environments in the world.

"Nortel was selected because of our expertise in building highly reliable carrier and mission-critical enterprise networks. We are very proud to have won these high-profile contracts and are looking forward to demonstrating the quality, reliability and flexibility of our networking solution on a global stage.

"The Olympic Games is the ultimate demonstration of Nortel's capabilities and the value we can drive for businesses."

Other IT companies involved in the 2012 Games are BT and Atos Origin.