Nortel to cut 1,300 jobs

Nortel Networks Corp, North America's largest maker of phone equipment, posted its biggest net loss in seven years and announced plans to cut 1,300 jobs as customers scale back budgets.

Nortel has lost more than $4.5 billion since Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski took over in 2005, pushing him to cut 18 per cent of the workforce. Phone companies such as Sprint Nextel Corp have curbed network upgrades to cope with subscriber defections. Others are shifting from Nortel's older technology, seeking faster products from Cisco Systems Inc and rivals.