Nortel Networks yesterday could not confirm whether its Irish operations would be affected by further job cuts announced on Thursday.

"We're not breaking the job cuts down by region or country at this stage," a spokesman said.

Following its first-quarter results, in which it reported a $395 million loss, Nortel said it would shed 20,000 jobs worldwide by mid-year, up from 15,000 announced previously.

The Canadian telecommunications giant, which employs 94,000 people worldwide, has a major presence in Ireland with about 3,500 staff at plants in Belfast, Dublin, Galway and Shannon.

It is the third time in as many months that Nortel has revised upwards its figures for job cuts. It has already announced it will shed 40 jobs in Galway as part of its February decision to cut 10,000 staff worldwide. The number of jobs to go globally was increased to 15,000 at the end of March.

Despite Nortel's poor results, the company says its European operations have been performing well. Revenues outside of the US and Canada grew by 38 per cent, compared with a 23 per cent drop in the US and a 2 per cent drop in Canada.

But the spokesman could not comment on whether this would shield Nortel's European operations from the cutbacks.

The drop in revenues for optical inter-city solutions in its network infrastructure segment in the US were more than offset by substantial growth in Europe and Asia, the company said. Revenues from Nortel's optical inter-city solutions also rose in Europe and Asia, compared with a decline in the US.

A considerable decline in narrow band access solutions products in the US and Asia was partially offset by substantial growth in Europe and Latin America, Nortel said.