Bahamas Telecommunications Company to Triple Capacity of Wireless Network and Extend Roaming Capabilities

22 June 2006

r> PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic, June 21 - The Bahamas Telecommunications Company, Ltd. (BTC), the primary telecom operator in the Bahamas, today announced that it will deploy Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT) wireless technology to extend the availability of next-generation, voice, data and multimedia services - improving the user experience for its wireless subscribers and making the Bahamas a more attractive tourist destination.

The GSM/GPRS network enhancements will help provide a better customer experience by delivering enhanced services such as high-speed wireless broadband, m-commerce, multimedia messaging, and the ability to download large e-mail attachments, videos, music and games. It will also allow the operator to triple the capacity of its wireless network, extending service from Abaco and Bimini to include all the Bahamas' family islands by the end of September 2006.

With this investment, BTC will also extend enhanced roaming capabilities, further accommodating international visitors and making the Bahamas a more attractive destination, thus providing them service while on the island. The announcement was made today at the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) 2006, 22nd Annual Telecommunications Conference and Trade Exhibition at the Barcelo Bavaro Convention Center in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

"Our aggressive schedule to complete this expansion by the end of September is a direct response to the great investments being made by the Bahamian government in an effort to attract high-end hotels and resorts, as well as housing sub-divisions for affluent vacationers," said Leon Williams, acting CEO, BTC.

"This solution will help put BTC at the forefront of next-generation mobile communications in the Caribbean market, supporting new services for end- users via fixed mobile convergence and IMS technology," said Alvio Barrios, regional sales vice president, Nortel Caribbean and Latin America. "Nortel is responding to the growth of wireless voice and data usage with technologies capable of meeting and surpassing the needs of mobile communicators. The ability to provide enhanced wireless data services, such as multimedia, will help drive Nortel's leadership in this market."

The GSM/GPRS solution from Nortel will enable BTC to achieve operational efficiencies through reduced network complexity and operating expenses as well as the ability to introduce new services quickly. This solution will also provide a foundation for evolution to advanced 3G capabilities to meet market demand, since the network configuration will be a GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA capable network.

Nortel was the industry's first supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio technologies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO, UMTS and WiMAX), and is the only end-to-end provider of all next generation wireless network solutions. In the Caribbean, Nortel is working with customers such as Cable & Wireless, Verizon Wireless, and TSTT and Laqtel in Trinidad and Tobago. Both TSTT and Laqtel have also selected Nortel for their 1xEV-DO network deployments announced late last year. Nortel has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless networks in over 70 countries across the globe.

About BTC

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. (BTC) has been a regulator and provider of telecommunications services in The Bahamas for more than 100 years. Today, the company offers modern, fully digital switching networks which provide high-speed communications services to residential and business consumers throughout the Bahamas. These services are transmitted via fiber optics, copper, coaxial, satellite and wireless media. Additional information on BTC can be obtained from our website at http://www.btcbahamas.com.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Our next-generation technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people with information. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at http://www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit http://www.nortel.com/news.

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and the actual outcome may be materially different. Further, actual results or events could differ materially from those contemplated in forward- looking statements as a result of the following (i) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's restatements and related matters including: Nortel's most recent restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements and related events; the negative impact on Nortel and NNL of their most recent restatement and delay in filing their financial statements and related periodic reports; legal judgments, fines, penalties or settlements, or any substantial regulatory fines or other penalties or sanctions, related to the ongoing regulatory and criminal investigations of Nortel in the U.S. and Canada; any significant pending civil litigation actions not encompassed by Nortel's proposed class action settlement; any substantial cash payment and/or significant dilution of Nortel's existing equity positions resulting from the finalization and approval of its proposed class action settlement, or if such proposed class action settlement is not finalized, any larger settlements or awards of damages in respect of such class actions; any unsuccessful remediation of Nortel's material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting resulting in an inability to report Nortel's results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner; the time required to implement Nortel's remedial measures; Nortel's inability to access, in its current form, its shelf registration filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Nortel's below investment grade credit rating and any further adverse effect on its credit rating due to Nortel's restatements of its financial statements; any adverse affect on Nortel's business and market price of its publicly traded securities arising from continuing negative publicity related to Nortel's restatements; Nortel's potential inability to attract or retain the personnel necessary to achieve its business objectives; any breach by Nortel of the continued listing requirements of the NYSE or TSX causing the NYSE and/or the TSX to commence suspension or delisting procedures; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's business including: yearly and quarterly fluctuations of Nortel's operating results; reduced demand and pricing pressures for its products due to global economic conditions, significant competition, competitive pricing practice, cautious capital spending by customers, increased industry consolidation, rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and short product life cycles, and other trends and industry characteristics affecting the telecommunications industry; any material and adverse affects on Nortel's performance if its expectations regarding market demand for particular products prove to be wrong or because of certain barriers in its efforts to expand internationally; any reduction in Nortel's operating results and any related volatility in the market price of its publicly traded securities arising from any decline in its gross margin, or fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; any negative developments associated with Nortel's supply contract and contract manufacturing agreements including as a result of using a sole supplier for key optical networking solutions components, and any defects or errors in Nortel's current or planned products; any negative impact to Nortel of its failure to achieve its business transformation objectives; additional valuation allowances for all or a portion of its deferred tax assets; Nortel's failure to protect its intellectual property rights, or any adverse judgments or settlements arising out of disputes regarding intellectual property; changes in regulation of the Internet and/or other aspects of the industry; Nortel's failure to successfully operate or integrate its strategic acquisitions, or failure to consummate or succeed with its strategic alliances; any negative effect of Nortel's failure to evolve adequately its financial and managerial control and reporting systems and processes, manage and grow its business, or create an effective risk management strategy; and (iii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's liquidity, financing arrangements and capital including: the impact of Nortel's most recent restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements; any inability of Nortel to manage cash flow fluctuations to fund working capital requirements or achieve its business objectives in a timely manner or obtain additional sources of funding; high levels of debt, limitations on Nortel capitalizing on business opportunities because of credit facility covenants, or on obtaining additional secured debt pursuant to the provisions of indentures governing certain of Nortel's public debt issues and the provisions of its credit facilities; any increase of restricted cash requirements for Nortel if it is unable to secure alternative support for obligations arising from certain normal course business activities, or any inability of Nortel's subsidiaries to provide it with sufficient funding; any negative effect to Nortel of the need to make larger defined benefit plans contributions in the future or exposure to customer credit risks or inability of customers to fulfill payment obligations under customer financing arrangements; any negative impact on Nortel's ability to make future acquisitions, raise capital, issue debt and retain employees arising from stock price volatility and further declines in the market price of Nortel's publicly traded securities, or any future share consolidation resulting in a lower total market capitalization or adverse effect on the liquidity of Nortel's common shares. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on Form 10- K/A, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Source: prnewswire