In an announcement made by the Quebec Government recently, it was stated that the Government would back and safeguard pensions of over 3,700 employees working for Nortel, a company which is currently under bankruptcy protection. As per Government's announcement, employees of Quebec Nortel would be duly covered under provincial legislation taking care of bankruptcy provisions.

Toronto-based Nortel Networks, Telecom equipment maker, which is under bankruptcy protection, has announced that it would liquidate itself by accepting a $650 million bid for the most lucrative part of its carrier networks division from Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens.

This might seem to be very ironical to many but yesterday, the high court judges at parallel hearings in Canada and the United States adjudged eight top executives of Nortel Networks Corp. as eligible for up to $7.3-million (U. S.) bonus payments under a retention plan.

Nortel Networks Corp., Toronto-based leading maker of telecommunications gear operating under bankruptcy protection since mid-January, recorded a loss of $2.1 billion
(all values U. S.) in the fourth quarter. It is reported to have taken massive non-cash write-downs and also suffered from a 15 per cent drop in sales.

Telecom gear maker Nortel Networks Corp., operating under bankruptcy protection, has announced another 3,200 layoffs worldwide in an attempt to restructure its business.