Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) is based in Finland, Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is German, and Nortel Networks Corp. is in Canada, but a possible deal tying these three companies together has a strong presence in Dallas. Joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks BV, which has had a weak U.S. presence in comparison to its other global operations,
announced a $650 million bid for the CDMA and LTE assets of bankrupt telecom equipment manufacturer Nortel Networks last month. The LTE, or long-term evolution, assets are key components in the rollout of 4G wireless technology that will make cell phones an even more potent multimedia device.
While Nokia Siemens would like to
close the deal in haste so they can start selling contracts to companies such as AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), hundreds of Dallas area employees are hoping the deal is done so they will still have jobs in a couple of months.
DallasNews.com
shows that if the deal goes through, Nokia Siemens, which already has about 900 employees in Dallas, would gain another 800 people in the area. The news service quoted Sue Spradley (pictured), president of Nokia Siemens' North American division and a former top executive at Nortel, as saying the deal "allows us to grow our position in North America, where we will be in a No. 1 or 2 position, particularly in the wireless market."
The deal requires more regulatory approvals, and Spradley indicated over the weekend that Nokia Siemens is very serious about getting it done and
could raise its offer if other suitors come in and trump its current $650 million bid.
Elsewhere, the JV is expanding. On Monday, it said it
won a multimillion dollar 3G network contract with Globalive Wireless Management Corp., Canada's newest wireless network. And last week, Nokia Siemens won a €1.1 billion ($1.55 billion)
order to operate the networks of Brazilian telecom firm Oi over the next five years. -
Baz HiralalGo to the story
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