He said: 'Nortel remains focussed on finding the right buyers for our other businesses while continuing to maintain excellent customer service levels.'

Before Nortel totally dismantles itself with the sale of other businesses to meet its credit liabilities, he said, it 'will leave its mark on the industry for decades to come'.

The CEO said Nortel will seek Canadian and US court approvals of the sale agreement at a joint hearing Tuesday.

The 127-year-old Canadian telecom equipment giant has been operating under bankruptcy protection since January after suffering losses of $5 billion last year.

The further losses of $507 million in the first quarter of this year sank the Canadian corporate icon.

Nortel's other divisions -- the enterprise unit and the metro Ethernet networks unit -- are also up for sale.