Nokia Siemens Gathers Up Nortel’s Wireless Heart

Nortel Networks’ wireless division has been sold to Nokia Siemens Networks for a reported $650 million. Nortel was the second largest player in the CDMA technology used for mobiles in the US and according to Information Week that division was still making around $700m a year.

Nortel’s overall value has slumped from a one-time high of $250 billion to around $2 billion, after it was hit by the bursting of the telecom bubble, an accounting scandal and now the global recession, leaving it in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The deal with Nokia Siemens has been welcomed by Nortel partners such as femtocell maker Airvana, who are more likely to get paid and see business in future through NSN. Owning some of the network infrastructure business may help Nokia sell more handsets in the US, where it has not always had a good reception.

Meanwhile, Nortel’s enterprise division is still for sale, along with its VoIP and optical metro businesses.