Nokia Siemens Gets FTC OK For Nortel DealNokia Siemens Gets FTC OK For Nortel Deal

Nokia Siemens moved a giant step closer to its goal of acquiring Nortel Networks' CDMA and Long-Term Evolution assets as the Federal Trade Commission approved the deal.

As the provider of CDMA infrastructure products to three of the top five CDMA global providers, Nortel's CDMA unit is considered the company's crown jewel as it prepares for its bankruptcy auction on July 24 in New York City.

Nokia Siemens stepped up to the plate quickly, making a bid for the CDMA unit after Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The CDMA technology is expected to morph smoothly to very high speed LTE, which is expected to eventually be the wireless infrastructure of choice for most of the world's wireless carriers. In the United States, Verizon Wireless is the leading CDMA and LTE provider and the carrier expects to begin offering LTE in two locations beginning late this year.

Nokia Siemens' acquisition of the Nortel unit is not a done deal in spite of the regulatory approval. Creditors MatlinPatterson, a holder of Nortel bonds, and Flextronics, a Nortel supplier, have contested the original outlines of the proposed takeover of the CDMA-LTE operation.

Although Nokia Siemens is bidding on Nortel's CDMA-LTE operation, some valuable pieces of the unit could be withheld from any acquisition, including its all-important OFDMA/MIMO IPR intellectual property.

Once carrying a market valuation of more than $250 billion, Nortel was dragged down by the worldwide economic slump as well as by a series of accounting scandals a few years ago.

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