Nokia Siemens Networks has announced plans to acquire Apertio for about $205 million. The networking partnership is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

U.K.-based Apertio provides real-time subscriber data applications for telecom operators. The company employs about 237 staff and had sales of around $41 million in 2007. NSN said that the acquisition builds on a pre-existing partnership between the two companies.

"The race is on to deliver seamless and highly targeted services to end-users across various access devices, and this requires a unified approach to subscriber data," said Jürgen Walter, head of Nokia Siemens Networks' Converged Core business unit, in a statement. "Enabling access to this information in real-time means you can profile subscribers and deliver new services and advertising appropriately…Today's announcement gives Nokia Siemens Networks the opportunity to provide unique value to our customers in this growing area."

NSN said that Apertio will form a new business line within the company's Converged Core business unit, which will be headed by current Apertio CEO Paul Magelli.