Nortel, one of the world's biggest makers of communications gear, will bundle five products into a new package available late next year that is designed to ease the transmission of data, video and voice through existing fiber-optic wires. The bundle will consist of two existing products and three in the works.

The Brampton, Ontario-based company touted its OPTeraPacket Solution as a "breakthrough" that will unite optical and packet networks into a single one to carry all types of traffic.

"It will provide lightning fast, highly reliable optical switching and routing capabilities that replace Old World' routers responsible for 57 percent of all Internet failures today, and deliver massive bandwidth where and when it is needed," Nortel said in a statement.

British telecommunications company Cable & Wireless Plc has endorsed the product, saying it looks forward tousing that kind of technology. Nortel said it made the announcement far in advance to let potential clients plan their purchases.

Clarence Chandran, head of Nortel's carrier packet solutions unit, likened the capabilities of the upcoming package to replacing the engine of a Formula One racing car. "You're going to take his existing Formula One engine out, you're going to put a new one in, and he's going to have speed and reliability going around the corners that he's never had before," Chandran told Reuters.

In the race to develop equipment to cope with the exploding use of the Internet, companies such as Nortel and its rivals are fighting to be first to market with better products.

Michael Urlocker, analyst at Scotia Capital Markets, said Nortel's news was a clear shot at San Jose, Calif.-based foe Cisco Systems Inc. "They're building on something they're market technology leaders in: that's optical."

Phone and telecommunications carriers are trying to manage huge growth in Internet usage, andhave complicated networks that are becoming increasingly unwieldy.

Demand for Nortel's optical products is exploding as the market grows. The market is expected to increase 56 percent a year to more than $35 billion by 2000, the company said.

Chandran said that the optical division at Nortel has had a "wild ride" in the past year as interest in its products surges. "Even my most optimistic views have been surpassed."

"The pie is growing phenomenally for everybody," Urlocker said.

"It looks like (Nortel's) playing a more aggressive marketing game," he added.