Nortel out, Cisco in, as 2012 London Olympics sponsor

As E.T. would say, “Ouch.”

Nortel received another black eye this week when the organizers of the 2012 London Summer Olympics announced that it has replaced the bankrupt Canadian company with Cisco as technology sponsor and official supplier of network infrastructure for the games.  The move will cost Olympic organizers $20 million in revenue because Cisco is signing on as a lower-tier sponsor. Nortel was replaced because of the uncertainty surrounding the company.

Nortel has a similar deal in place with the 2010 winter games in Vancouver, but that deal appears to be safe because buildout of the network is 85% completed.