The contract with Nortel has ended on good terms, following its decision in June to sell certain parts of its business. Some of these were included in the Tier One partnership with the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG).
Technology for the Games is a huge undertaking with a fixed deadline, relying on finalising the design and building of systems now. In order to deliver 'the most connected Games possible', LOCOG felt it was vital to work with a single business to cover the entire network infrastructure. As a result, LOCOG and Nortel amicably decided to bring the current agreement to an end.
LOCOG invited Cisco to bid for the infrastructure contract - the bid was successful and Cisco now comes on board in a Tier Two deal, starting immediately.
London 2012 CEO Paul Deighton commented, 'We continue on a path to deliver the most connected Games possible. We part with Nortel on good terms.
'Nortel acknowledges our fixed deadlines and our desire to have a single supplier for our entire network infrastructure have been impacted by Nortel’s decision to move towards standalone businesses. This is in no way a reflection of their capabilities – this is all about meeting our fixed deadlines.
'We welcome Cisco to the London 2012 team, they will be a valued partner and will provide us with what we require to achieve our ambition of delivering a spectacular Games in 2012. We look forward to working with them over the next three years.'
