BTI Telecom Corp. (Raleigh, NC), a provider of integrated telecommunications services in the southeastern United States, selected Nortel (Brampton, ON, Canada) to provide DWDM optical-line equipment in its 3250-mi fiber-optic network that is currently under construction. Nortel will also provide BTI with its OC-192 and OC-48 (2.5-Gbit/sec) optical multiplexing equipment. The first leg of BTI`s network--from New York City to Washington, DC--is already in service. The entire network is expected to be operational by April 1999.