Nortel Bows Out of 2012 London Olympics

By Mark Evans | Published: July 10, 2009

Not that this is a surprise but Nortel has bowed out of its involvement in the 2012 London Olympics. Nortel has been replaced by Cisco.

Herd’s an internal Q&A with Nortel’s Jayne Rees, who was responsible for Nortel’s relationship with the LOCOG.


Jayne, what has been announced today?
JR: Nortel and LOCOG have agreed to end their contract and partnership with immediate effect. This means that Nortel will no longer be a partner of the London 2012 Games and we’ve simultaneously cancelled our Games-time equipment supply contract with BT though other BT relationships remain in place.

Why did this is happen?
JR: Nortel’s movement to separate business units, and that it is advancing in its discussions with external parties to sell those businesses, means we are no longer able to really leverage the partnership with LOCOG from a commercial or marketing point of view.

For LOCOG they are entering the mid-point of the seven-year ‘loan’ of the Games to London. Ultimately their timelines can’t shift; they have to be ready to press the ‘go’ button at 20:12pm on July 27th, 2012. We understand and respect that.

So we fell out over our business direction?
JR: No, there has been no “falling out.” In fact LOCOG are on record about the wonderful support they’ve had from us and they ranked us very highly in their partner ecosystem; it was clear from the start that we understood their values and we ‘got it.’ We’ve been in close contact with them at the most senior levels within Nortel and Ernst & Young since the January filing and they appreciate that candour.

How does this affect our plans for Vancouver 2010 Winter Games?
JR: In short, not at all. We remain fully committed to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Nortel has already met or exceeded many of our sponsorship obligations. The network build-out is 85 percent complete and has already been used for numerous World Cup or equivalent events with outstanding results.

What are your final thoughts on the London 2012 Games?
JR: I’m proud that Nortel has been a partner to them and it gives me great comfort to know LOCOG believed our team set exemplary standards in how we interacted with the other technology partners, took the lead on Sustainability and Education and really understood the Olympic values. It’s to our great credit that we can part company on amicable terms and I speak for the entire virtual 2012 Nortel team when I say we wish LOCOG the best of luck for the future and that we all look forward to attending the Games as spectators and supporters.

Employee Communications, EMEA


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  • Wapuka1
    Nortel could not even pull off giving free gear (by being a Tier 1 sponsor) to the London OC. Then again, imagine the Olympic reporting services running over Nortel's obsolete and poor quality products. The press would have a field day complaining about Nortel's VoIP tin can and string products. Of course, the London Olympics will get a much better network and far better support than it could possibly get from Nortel.

    Only a fool could think that Nortel somehow 'came in first' in this fiasco. After years of market share loss, mediocre to poor product development, the hemoraging of quality engineers, extremely poor managament, and the collapse into bankruptcy and dismemberment, this fiasco is a fitting epitaph. Poor 'Less' - obviously he has is missing quite a few brain cells if thinks that Cisco ran out of gas on this one. I hope he is able to fill out the forms to receive food stamps.

    The folks at Cisco are having a great laugh. They get the upside of providing the network, they do it at a much cheaper cost (to Cisco), and Nortel looks like the bankrupt disaster that it has become.

    However, if there any Nortel products fanatics left on this planet, don't worry. Mike Z is goin g to announce that Nortel will be providing the network for the Macedonian High School Goat Tossing Tournament in 2011.
  • yes4aapl
    Friday, July 10, 2009
    Cisco replaces Nortel as London Olympics sponsor
    http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/07/06/daily97.html?ana=yfcpc
    The switch will cost the games an estimated $19.4 million in lost revenue because San Jose-based Cisco....
  • FraudEqualsJAIL
    I speak for the entire virtual 2012 Nortel team
    ==========

    Virtual indeed..
  • horace_grimswold
    Another gold medal performance from Nortel Networks!
  • less
    It ran the equivalent of the marathon, added an extra lap and still came in first place, a full 12-18 laps ahead of 2nd and 3rd.

    Cisco ran out of gas.
  • enterp
    but sick_sigma - what about Joel's lifetime warranties?
  • Milan_Bekich
    "From the olympic point of view, it is not good business to create a long term dependency on a vendor who may not be able to fulfill commitments."

    Right-o ! After all the Olympics last a WHOLE week !

    Milan
  • sick_sigma
    Are you being serious?

    The olympic games do not last for a long time. However, the planning, design, implementation for the telecommunications infrastructure must begin far, far in advance of the actual athletic competitions.

    It does not make sense for either side to rely on a promise made in 2009 to be kept in 2012. That is 3 years -- not one week as you say.
  • less
    12-18 months is all Nortel typically needs to achieve any goal
  • less
    12-18 is all Nortel ever needs. Ch11, 12-18....

    All those who remember the war
    They won't forget what they've seen..
    Destruction of men in their prime
    whose average was 19
  • car_park_fighter
    No surprise at all - customers have lost confidence, while the leaders and E&Y are still getting paid, obviously with no reason to hurry to finish ch11. Total support for London Olympics was one of the many lies of the executives, especially from the UK.
  • joremero
    This oughta hurt BT
    "we’ve simultaneously cancelled our Games-time equipment supply contract with BT"
  • InTheRoundEye
    Hopefully BT didn't miss that comment that Nortel will no longer be a company after December 09.
  • How_long
    BT will get the stuff from Cisco instead. Nortel helped Cisco get going in voice, firing some of the best in the business, who promptly went down the road. Cisco snapped them up. Right from the top to the bottom, that guy Joel replaced, loads of good people in the UK, marketing, sales, training, tech support . . . .fired by Nortel, now work at Cisco.
  • Milan_Bekich
    Marketing hype, marketing hype. The games were provided gear and services at no cost in return for PR. Given NT will have vaporized by 2012, what value is PR ?

    BT winning the UK olympics was about as tough as NT/NEC winning the games in Tokyo.
    .
    Cute however that NT will support the Vancouver games... Oh Canada !

    Milan
  • rambling_sid
    This was a great achievement to win the London Olympics by the local UK team from Sales, operations, SEs, Contracts, Finance etc. What an "own goal" by Zman, and Hackman!
    Zman was in Downing Street with all the other CEOs before Xmas. During the 14th Jan announcement you will recall had reference from Zman that he had already had call with LOCOG CEO.
    Add to the resume - "lost the Olympics".
    Wonder if there is a place on the Macedonian triathlon team for 2012????
  • sick_sigma
    Probably best for everyone involved.

    At this point Nortel cannot, and should not, make promises to support people years into the future.

    From the olympic point of view, it is not good business to create a long term dependency on a vendor who may not be able to fulfill commitments.

    I wonder if Nortel ever made any money on the olympics or if we did it for the purpose of obtaining a big name reference.

    References are not necessarily a bad thing -- they can certainly be good -- but at this point we cannot afford any giveaways.
  • FraudEqualsJAIL
    at this point we cannot afford any giveaways
    ====

    Except for the fat cat bonu$e$ and the E&Y swindle

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