Nortel has been selected to provide wireless communications with its GSM-R technology for two new railway lines in Algeria. GSM-R is expected to enable the Algerian railway infrastructure agency, Agence Nationale d'Etudes et de Suivi de la Realisation des Investissements Ferroviaires (ANESRIF) to improve safety and increase average train speeds to reduce travel times while reducing operational costs. Nortel's technology will also help increase network interoperability and support new voice applications running over the GSM-R network such as railway emergency and group conference calls.

ANESRIF is managing the modernization of the Algerian railway system, including the construction of new railway lines, signaling systems and other railway equipment. The introduction of GSM-R on the two new railway lines at Tabia-Mecheria and Bordj Bouarreridj - M'Sila will extend the first GSM-R network awarded to Nortel in 2006 for the El Gourzi-Touggourt line in Eastern Algeria. The new lines are managed by Algeria's SNTF (Societe Nationale des Transports Ferroviares), the first African railway operator to adopt the GSM-R standard.

"Nortel's global leadership in GSM-R is the result of an early and significant investment in this technology which has been developed to meet the communications needs of leading railways worldwide like the Algerian ANESRIF and SNTF", said Michel Clement, president, Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Nortel. "The solution will help ANESRIF and SNTF provide a better, safer service at a lower operational cost, helping them meet their modernization plans to create the most modern and advanced railway network in Africa."

GSM-R helps increase the efficiency and safety of the railway by supporting reliable and secure communications among railway operational staff, including drivers, dispatchers, train engineers and station controllers. GSM-R is part of the new European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) standard and carries the signalling information directly to the train driver, enabling faster train speeds and increased traffic density while maintaining a high level of safety.