Industry committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. My name is George Riedel. I'll briefly introduce my colleagues. Richard Lowe, as has been said, is the president of the Carrier business and will be answering business-related questions. Derrick Tay, from Ogilvy Renault, will handle any leg

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So let me make a few comments, please. Nortel operates, as you know, in an integrated global industry as an integrated global company. It's important, in terms of the implications, to set the stage here. We have, as of January, a number of jurisdiction

Industry committee  The best I can do is offer some comments around the well-chronicled set of challenges that have faced Nortel--whether they were financial, operating, or other--and the concern that the business had reached a point where it was difficult to see a successful turnaround.

Industry committee  To go back to one of my opening remarks, the industry faces significant scale challenges. In the businesses in which we operate, the R and D required, the balance sheet required, and the footprint in terms of global reach required all represented structural challenges to the busi

Industry committee  Let me start. We had a number of meetings with both the federal and Ontario governments. On the federal side, about 13 different meetings took place beginning in the fall of last year and going through January of this year. Those meetings were about seeking support for a plan fo

Industry committee  I can. The first meeting occurred on October 6, 2008, and meetings continued until June 2009.

Industry committee  Let me try to take each one in turn. In 2003 EDC stepped in to provide a bonding facility that enabled us to post performance bonds for support of customer commitments, not R and D commitments. So they were very helpful in providing a bonding facility so we could sell a network

Industry committee  Let me make sure I address your question correctly. It's the negotiations with Ericsson that you're speaking of?

Industry committee  Okay. Let me try to take this in two stages. In the court-approved process, you go through what's called creating a stalking horse. We had several conversations, starting in the fall of 2008, with a number of parties to create a stalking horse. Ultimately, Nokia Siemens Network

Industry committee  I'm not aware that we produced any documents on this topic for Industry Canada. I can go back and check the records, but I'm not aware that we did produce any documents on this topic. Derrick, go ahead.

Industry committee  Mr. Lake, as I said, our mission is to maximize value. The focus on how that value ultimately gets distributed to the claims process is governed by two things, the law and the courts, and their guidance of that. So my simple answer is that the best we can do is to continue to h

Industry committee  I have great empathy for their situation and I work hard for their benefit to produce maximum value. I certainly understand the human cost they're bearing, and my goal is to continue to do everything I and the company can do to improve their ultimate recovery.

Industry committee  I could provide two pieces of input on that, one of which is from the customers. We have developed some world-class LTE technology. Richard's team has done a phenomenal job. But the customers—the large North American and European and Asian customers—have been very direct with u

Industry committee  Again, I want to acknowledge the human situation that exists on one hand, but the economic answer is that this is the best way to maximize the value for that asset. That value then gets distributed over time through the court process. That's the most efficient answer to their ver

Industry committee  I'll attempt to do so. Again, to go back to my earlier comment, there are multiple jurisdictions here in filing—U.S., Canada, and EMEA. The process for maximizing value through asset sales is under way. The distribution of those proceeds to the various claims will go through a s