These are two critical roles at Nortel. Having a leading, experienced CFO will be central to achieving the ever-higher quality ? nancial controls and business processes Nortel needs to improve its operational effectiveness. Having a sales leader with deep experience and broad exposure to best-in-class sales and channels strategies will be key to delivering on the market opportunity we see before us. The Board welcomes them both.

We remain committed to integrity through effective corporate governance practices and enhanced compliance. We have gone from six material weaknesses to none. I am pleased to see this is being recognized by external experts in this regard. Nortel’s Corporate Governance Quotient, as prepared by Risk Metrics, outperformed 97.8% of the companies in the S&P/TSX Composite and 91.7% of the companies in the Technology Hardware and Equipment group. And, according to Toronto’s Globe & Mail governance report, Board Games, Nortel ranked 13 out of 190 companies. Throughout 2007 we continued to focus on increasing employee awareness of ethical issues through our code of business conduct. As is our CEO, the Nortel board is steadfast in its belief in rebuilding a great company the right way.

Nortel’s strategy is continuing to gain traction in the marketplace and the level of customer engagements is encouraging. The company is also working to manage the company’s technology investments to ensure higher yields and more pro? table growth. Listening to customers’ needs and understanding their business issues will be key to driving demand for Nortel’s differentiated offerings.