ored the idea of partnerships and alliances. "Will we do some acquisitions, maybe, but I think you will clearly see us driving down the partnership mentality on a much broader scale than you've ever seen in the past," he said. Despite this, he warned that the firm's gross margin, which fell to 48 percent in the fourth quarter 2003 from 52 percent the previous quarter, is likely to remain under pressure in 2005 as the firm spends to support the introduction of new technologies to its customers. He added that the margin should widen over the longer 110 VAULT LIBRARY CAREER 2005 Vault Inc. Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers Nortel Networks Limited term, as its business becomes more like that of a software company than a traditional hardware maker. Settling up In March 2004, Colombia's state-owned telecommunications firm, Telecom, agreed to pay Nortel $80 million to settle a long-running dispute over joint-venture contracts that went sour, Columbian President Alvaro Uribe's office announced. Two years before, Colombia had paid Nortel about $52 million to settle a dispute over different joint-venture deals that also failed. The latest agreement provides for Telecom to pay Nortel the $80 million on May 7th, at which time Nortel would transfer ownership of 611,000 telephone lines it had installed for Telecom in the 1990s. According to the Columbian government, Nortel was initially demanding some $638 million in compensation, but agreed to the $80 million settlement. GETTING HIRED Hiring process The company provides a host of job search functions on its career site, www.nortelnetworks.com/employment/index.html, The site, hosted by Monster.com, allows users to search for positions by keyword, location and job category. There is also information about internships, although most opportunities look to be for Canadian high school and university students. The company also has a "co-op placements" program. Nortel hires students in the United States and Canada to work in the company's offices in Alpharetta, Ga.; Billerica,