Fair Value

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Fair Value [Abstract]

Fair Value

15. Fair Value

ASC 820 defines fair value, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure requirements about fair value measurements. ASC 820, among other things, requires Nortel to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value.

Fair value hierarchy

ASC 820 provides a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on whether the inputs to those valuation techniques are observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect Nortel's assumptions with respect to how market participants would price an asset or liability. These two inputs used to measure fair value fall into the following three different levels of the fair value hierarchy:

Level 1: Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets that are observable.

Level 2: Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are non-active; inputs other than quoted prices that are observable, and derived from or corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3: Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable. This hierarchy requires the use of observable market data when available.

Determination of fair value

When available, Nortel uses quoted market prices to determine fair value of items classified in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.

Refer to note 13 for information on fair value of Nortel's long term debt.