Nokia Siemens eyeing big pieces of Nortel: report

Nortel Networks Corp. is in talks to have large pieces of its business scooped up by Nokia Siemens Networks, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The Canadian telecom technology company, which is operating under court protection from creditors, has said that as part of the proceedings it would sell some of its business units.

But Nortel spokesman Mohammed Nakhooda declined to confirm whether discussions with Nokia Siemens have been taking place.

"It's our policy not to comment on industry rumour and speculation," he said in a phone interview.

"Planning is underway and we're pursuing opportunities that we believe will provide maximum benefit to our key stakeholders which include our creditors, customers and our employees."

The Journal said Nokia is interested in much of Nortel's profitable carrier networks unit — which sells to phone companies and the like — and a research unit developing a next-generation wireless technology.

It also said that an auction of Nortel's enterprise unit — which sells to non-carriers — last week attracted bids from competitors Avaya Inc. and Siemens Enterprise Communications.

Nokia Siemens is a joint venture between Finland's Nokia  Corp.  and Siemens AG, the German industrial conglomerate.

The Journal said that Nokia Siemens is moving aggressively to court carriers in the United States, where Nortel has a large installed base.

Nortel said last month it had closed the sale of parts of its application delivery business to Radware for $18 million.

The unit was part of the operations acquired by Nortel when it bought Alteon WebSystems of San Jose, Calif., in 2000, one of many purchases Nortel made during the telecom boom.