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were recognized upon delivery of interim product solutions pending the availability of the later generation optical product that the customer
had ordered. In this circumstance, revenues for the order should have been deferred until the undelivered element was delivered as we did not
have evidence supporting the fair value of the undelivered element. Accordingly, we restated the recorded revenues, deferring recognition to
subsequent periods, which had the effect of a net decrease to revenues of approximately $40 million in 2001 and an increase to revenues of
approximately $190 million in 2002 and $25 million in 2003.
We also focused on accounting for software revenue recognition more generally, particularly in our Optical business. In Fall 2004, we sought
the views of the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant, or OCA, on one issue with respect to our historical and continuing accounting
treatment under U.S. GAAP of revenues recognized on sales of certain optical products containing embedded software. We advised the OCA
that we believed our historical accounting treatment of these optical products was appropriate, and we were fully supported in this conclusion
by D&T. We, in consultation with D&T, nevertheless decided to obtain the views of the OCA on our analysis and conclusions due to the
j
udgments involved in the applicable accounting analysis and the significant impact a different conclusion could have had on our reported
revenues (namely, the deferred recognition of substantial revenues over a number of subsequent years). Following discussions with us, the
OCA did not approve or disapprove our accounting in this area, and we concluded that we would not make any adjustments to our accounting
treatment of the sales of these optical products as part of the Second Restatement.
We also considered revenue recognition policies related to post-contract support, or PCS, with respect to all business lines, and identified
certain Enterprise products that presented issues. For these products, we recognized revenues at the time of delivery of the product but before
completion of PCS or other future services agreed to in the contract. Because in some cases we did not have vendor specific objective evidence
of fair value for those services (for example, where we made available free software upgrades on our website), U.S. GAAP requires the
revenues to be recognized over the PCS period. Accordingly, we corrected this error and deferred the revenues to subsequent periods, resulting
in a net decrease to revenues of approximately $140 million in 2001 and $155 million in 2002 and a net increase of approximately $170 million
in 2003.
As a result of our focus on accounting for software revenue recognition more generally as described above, we identified a specific contract for
which revenue for sales had been recognized but the criteria for revenue recognition had not been met, including the criteria that contract fees
be either fixed or determinable. Accordingly, we corrected this error and deferred the revenues to subsequent periods when customer payments
became due and all criteria for revenue recognition were met.
As a result of employee input, we determined that a certain reseller lacked economic substance apart from Nortel Networks at the time of the
relevant transaction. In such a case, we should have deferred revenues and recognized them only upon the reseller’s sale of the products to an
end customer. Accordingly, we corrected this error and deferred the revenues to subsequent periods.
In our review of a particular contract in connection with other issues described above, we determined that it also involved a reciprocal
arrangement with the customer. Instead of recognizing the full amount of
130
•
Fixed or determinable
f
ees—An increase o
f
$133 million in 2002.
•
R
eseller transactions
—An increase of $151 million in 2001.
•
R
eci
p
rocal arran
g
ements
—A decrease of approximately $55 million in 2000 and $20 million in 2001.