Regulators with the Federal Trade Commission approve Nokia Siemens' bid to buy two business units from Nortel for $650 million. Nortel has been under bankruptcy protection since early 2009, and is looking to sell off various businesses. At the same time, Nortel continues to build out its unified communications capabilities, including the latest release of its Communication Server 1000.
Federal regulators have given the go-ahead to Nokia Siemens Networks' $650
million bid for a part of Nortel Networks' business.
The Federal Trade Commission on July 6 put the bid on a list of approved
mergers.
Nokia Siemens' bid, announced June 19, is part of a larger process that will
decide the future
of Nortel, which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since
early in 2009.
Nokia Siemens is looking to buy Nortel's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
wireless business and LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology. The $650 million
offer will set the bottom for future bids for the businesses, and Nokia Siemens
will have the right to best any offer.
When the deal was announced, Nortel officials said selling the businesses
was important to ensure the company's future, and that as many as 2,500 Nortel
employees could end up working for Nokia Siemens. The company is a joint
initiative between Nokia and Siemens.
After filing for bankruptcy, Nortel officials said they expected to use the
protection to reorganize. However, in June Nortel announced the deal with Nokia
Siemens and said deals for other businesses could be in the works. Speculation
about which businesses might be sold has focused on Nortel's Enterprise
and Metro Ethernet Networks businesses.
However, since the deal was announced, Nortel has been busy expanding its UC
(unified communications) offerings.
Less than a week after the Nokia Siemens announcement, Nortel said it was
extending its small and midsize business-focused SCS
(Software Communication System) into the enterprise, and announced a deal with
a European telecommunications service provider.
On July 7, Nortel announced the 6.0 release of its Communications Server
1000, which company officials said offers greater simplicity, security and
openness, as well as improved energy efficiency.
CS 1000 6.0 features more centralization of functions. In addition, the new
release comes with the Unified Communications Management Solution, which
manages CS 1000 as the network's UC foundation.
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