By Teresa von Fuchs
Monday, February 11, 2008
Motorola and Nortel Networks are reportedly discussing combining their wireless-infrastructure units to form a joint venture, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the situations, the Journal's report said the talks could create a $10 billion business making networking equipment for wireless carriers.
The industry already has seen considerable consolidations in this area with the Alcatel-Lucent merger and Nokia and Siemens forming Nokia Siemens Networks.
The report said that talks between Motorola and Nortel have been going on for more than a month and are recently heating up, as both companies struggle to regain profitability and market share.
According to the report, Nortel would take a majority stake in the joint venture, while Motorola would own a minority.