Nortel's continuing developments on the OME 6500 indicate the important role this platform plays in the Canadian vendor's optical portfolio. However, with few public customer announcements, the OME 6500 has yet to deliver on its potential. This report contains insight and analysis of the product or service strengths and weaknesses, list of buying criteria and how the product or service fares in each category, and a comprehensive table of product or service metrics and specifications. This report is useful for purchasers who need to evaluate products, or as a source of competitive intelligence for vendors.