From a strategic perspective, this is a good idea for Nortel - spearhead a (for now) a proprietary alternative technology instead of competing with heavy-hitters like CSCO and JNPR on their own turf.

However, it seems that Nortel has a message problem of exactly where this fits in and what its true benefits are, if any.

In addition, I think there is quite a bit of skepticism on the part of Service Providers about putting too much faith in Nortel's ability to deliver and support new features in a timely manner. Betting on PBT will tie you closely to NT whether you like it not - a shaky proposition based on demonstrated performance over the last 6-7 years.

In general, people just don't trust Nortel's technical savvy the way they do Cisco's and Juniper's.