Jobs bonanza as Nortel grows

Several hundred new jobs should be announced today when Nortel Networks announces a major expansion of its Belfast facility.

Details of the expansion will be disclosed when Nortel president and chief executive officer, Mr John Roth, addresses 1,500 staff in Belfast this morning.

It is understood the Northern facility, and another operation in Paignton, England, will receive a $64 million (€65.4 million) investment to expand.

The news follows Mr Roth's announcement in London yesterday's that Nortel would invest $260 million and hire 3,400 people to expand its booming fibre optics equipment business.

The operation in Newtownabbey will introduce a production line for Nortel's TN64X technology which speeds up Internet download times. It will service the European optical fibre networking market, making Nortel Belfast its key product supplier to Europe.

Nortel's Galway facility, with 1,000 staff, is not expected to benefit from the latest expansion. It has recently moved away from a manufacturing focus into higher value software development and engineering activities.

Last November Nortel announced a $400 million investment in optical net working, and since then the Canadian operation - where Nortel has its headquarters - has barely been able to keep up with demand for its optical Internet systems and components.

Nortel, which employs 70,000 people worldwide and logged profits of $1.73 billion last year, expects to triple its production capacity this year. It now says it will invest $186 million in Canada, including $102 million in Ottawa and $84 million in Montreal. In addition to the $64 million earmarked for Nortel's Paignton and Belfast operations, another $10 million will be dispersed among Nortel Networks' other global operations facilities. The 3,400 jobs will be created in manufacturing, engineering, supply chain management, and customer service.

"We've established first-mover advantage in the optical Internet space and lead the market for next-generation optical capabilities. Today's announcement will accelerate this momentum," Mr Roth said in London yesterday.

In a separate development, Nortel has also announced a patent cross-licensing agreement with voice and data network designer Tellabs. Under the arrangement the two parties will share patent port folios, including optical networking patents.