Motorola, Nortel reportedly in talks to combine units
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Motorola Inc  and Nortel Networks Corp  are in talks to combine their wireless infrastructure units, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the situation.
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(InfoWorld) - A troubled Motorola has realigned itself as its criticalÂ cell-phone business slows down. The company sketched out the reorganization in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, two days before it is set to announce its second-quarter financial results. Last week, Motorola slashed its earlier revenue forecast for the quarter and predicted a larger loss, blaming lower phone sales. It also named a new chief of its mobile unit, Stu Reed. Other recent changes in the executive ranks have also rocked the company. Motorola is now split into three divisions: Mobile Devices, Home and Networks Mobility, and Enterprise Mobility Solutions. The company is moving its Good Technology mobile e-mail software business from the Mobile Devices division into Enterprise Mobility Solutions. Its carrier equipment business has been combined with home broadband products in the Home and Networks Mobility segment with the new enterprise unit focusing on private network products. The Home and Networks Mobility group is responsible for set-top boxes and digital video systems for carriers, home DSL and cable modems, and wired and wireless broadband network gear. The Enterprise group encompasses analog and digital two-way radio and other voice and data communications systems for government, businesses and Motorola's large public safety customer base. Good Technology, whichÂ Motorola acquiredÂ in a deal completed in February, is a mobile messaging platform with enterprise features like centralized lockdown of unwanted applications on the phone. It competes against Research in Motion's BlackBerry system and Nokia's Intellisync technology. After the rousing success of the slim Razr handset, which started out as a premium-priced bauble and quickly became a mass-market commodity, Motorola has had trouble coming out with an encore. A Razr 2 is expected later this year. New handsets from Nokia, Samsung, and LG Electronics had stolen the spotlight even before Apple's iPhone, which debuted June 29, became the talk of the industry. Meanwhile, sales for all makers have stagnated in higher-priced markets like North America and Europe while rising in lower-priced India and China, according to industry analysts. Last Wednesday, Motorola said it expected to report 35 million to 36 million handset sales in the second quarter, down from 45.5 million in the previous quarter. Its revenue forecast dropped from $9.4 billion to between $8.6 billion and $8.7 billion. The company now expects to lose between $0.02 and $0.04 in the quarter.
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(InfoWorld) - Alcatel has reached a preliminary agreement to buy Nortel Network's 3G (third-generation) mobile phone network business for $320 million. Under terms of the proposed deal, Alcatel will acquire Nortel's UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Business) radio access business, including 14 Nortel customer contracts, the companies announced Friday. UMTS is a 3G telecoms standard used in Europe based on W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). The deal would make Alcatel one of the biggest suppliers of UMTS gear worldwide, giving it contracts with one in four UMTS operators, it said. The companies have signed a nonbinding agreement to merge and hope to close the deal by the end of the year. Closing the merger depends on arriving at a final acquisition agreement, negotiations with works councils, and securing regulatory and other approvals, they said. A "significant majority" of Nortel's employees in the UMTS division would be transferred to Alcatel, the companies said.. The deal appears not to affect Alcatel'sÂ proposed merger with Lucent, announced in April. That deal is due to be voted on by shareholders of both companies on Sept. 7, although some Lucent shareholders opposed the deal and are trying toÂ block the vote in court. Alcatel said it would involve Lucent in the integration of the UMTS business. The sale by Nortel continues aÂ restructuring plan at the companyÂ that has included 1,900 job cuts over the next year. The Canadian company said in a statement its UMTS access business "lacks the scale and momentum needed to become profitable." Nortel said it will continue to develop GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and other mobile technologies, as the company focuses on emerging 4G mobile video and multimedia services. Alcatel sees the acquisition as a way to build on an expanding UMTS market and increase it technology portfolio for major operators such as Orange and Vodafone.
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Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint Corp. are negotiating a possible merger, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
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Struggling cell-phone maker Motorola Inc. said Thursday it is considering separating the handset unit from its other businesses in an effort to snap a deep slump that has followed its meteoric success with the Razr.
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Nextel Communications is in advanced talks to merge with the Sprint Corporation, a deal that would form the third largest cellphone company in the nation.
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Merger talks between Verizon  Communications VZ.N and MCI Inc. MCIP.O have advanced, and  the two companies could announce a deal in the next few days,  the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
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Sprint Corp. and Time Warner Cable are discussing a deal that would allow the cable provider to offer cell phone service, the companies said Wednesday.
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Nortel's CEO says he'll consider his company's options, but won't comment on possible Motorola merger.
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Motorola said on Thursday it has extended for three years a deal to supply Nextel Communications with telecommunications equipment, allaying fears that Sprint buyout of Nextel would threaten the relationship.
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MCI Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc. are reportedly discussing the telephone industry's second big merger in days, though some observers dismiss the potential marriage as so flawed that the talks may be a ploy by MCI to lure another suitor, such as Verizon .
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Motorola Inc , the world's No.  3 mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it is exploring  strategic alternatives including a possible separation of its  mobile devices business from other units.
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Nortel Networks'  chief  executive will examine potential takeover opportunities when  they arise, he told a German newspaper, but he declined to  comment on media reports of a unit merger with Motorola  .
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Nextel Communications and Sprint are negotiating a possible merger, according to a source familiar with the discussions. It was not clear how far the talks had progressed, and
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Sprint - the US&#39;s third biggest mobile telco - and fifth-place rival Nextel are reportedly in talks about a possible merger. The deal would create a carrier with approximately 39m subscribers and a market value of around $70bn.
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Motorola said it is exploring a realignment of its businesses to boost its struggling cellphone unit, which has fallen on hard times after a two-year run of success with the Razr.
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Motorola mulls breaking up its business as it battles to recover from losses and weak sales.