Tag Archive for Nortel

| April 4, 2011
Comments Off on IPv4 Address Worth $11.25

IPv4 Address Worth $11.25

IPv4 Address Worth $11.25Now that the last IPv4 addresses are gone, the Internet numbers are increasing in value. Microsoft is spending $7.5 million for 666,625 IPv4 addresses from Nortel (NRTLQ). As Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) fight over Nortel’s 4G bones (which I noted earlier), DownloadSquad reports that Microsoft (MSFT) jumped all over Nortel’s stash of IPv4 addresses when they became available for purchase through bankruptcy proceedings.

NORTELMicrosoft ponied up $7.5 million for the Nortel pool, which works out to $11.25 per IP address. There were 13 other interested buyers, but only Microsoft and three others actually submitted bids according to DownloadSquad. With the last block of IPv4 addresses already issued (which I wrote about when it happened), snatching up over 666,000 IPv4 addresses in one fell swoop is a smart move by Microsoft.

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Microsoft CEO Steve BallmerCould Ballmer‘s boys be planning a cloud-based IPv6 <–> IPv4 transition service?

Are they trying to jump-start an IPv4 address space underground economy?

As the authors say, we’ll just have to wait and see.

What do you think?

What is Redmond up to?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| January 10, 2011
Comments Off on Apple, Google Picking Nortel 4G Bones

Apple, Google Picking Nortel 4G Bones

Apple, Google Picking Nortel 4G Bones– Updated 04-04-11 – Google has offered Nortel $900 million for its patent portfolio. According to the Google Blog, Nortel selected the Google bid as the “stalking-horse bid,” which is the starting point against which others will bid prior to the auction. They hope that the Nortel patent portfolio will “create a disincentive for others to sue Google.” I wrote about the litigation-happy nature of the mobile telecom market here.

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Nortel NetworksBankrupt Canadian telecom giant Nortel Networks is auctioning off its patents to the highest bidder. The sale of the patents is the last gasp of a bankrupt networking giant. Nortel, which Reuters says had a market capitalization of more than $250 billion and more than 90,000 employees. The bones of the one-time king are scattered across the landscape.

But now Sweden-based network equipment maker Ericsson owns most of Nortel’s North American wireless operations, its multi-service switch business, and a Chinese joint venture. Ciena Corp. bought Nortel’s optical networking and carrier Ethernet business, while the Canadian government is taking over Nortel’s Ottawa campus.

Apple ComputersNortel had more than 4,000 patents, with a market valuation of about $1 billion. Nortel owns seven of the 105 patent families likely to be likely components of 4G wireless technologies to LTE and Service Architecture Evolution (SAE), research firm Fairfield Resources told Reuters. Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) are both eying the patents in their escalating wireless wars, Reuters reported.

Research in Motion logoCiting unnamed sources. Von|Xchange says Research In Motion (RIMM) and Motorola (MOT) are also said to be eying the intellectual property.  Potential buyers will study how widely Nortel’s 4G-related patents have been licensed, since the company went into bankruptcy protection before 4G was commercially viable warns Reuters.

Google logoThe due diligence for the Nortel Wireless patent pursuers may not be necessary because the ITU has redefined 4G all the way back to HSPA+, rubber-stamping the marketing claims of the operators according to Connected Planet. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has changed its definitions of 4G, bringing not just WiMax and long-term evolution (LTE) under the umbrella of 4th generation, but also evolved 3G technologies like high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+).

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| March 23, 2009
Comments Off on Nortel Pulls an AIG

Nortel Pulls an AIG

Nortel Pulls an AIGAnd the absurdity continues – The executives who run companies into the ground continue to get rewards “retention” bonuses and the rest of us get laid-off.  In the fine tradition of AIG rewarding the brainiacs who led us all into this global economic meltdown, the geniuses who took Nortel from $250 billion market cap to $65 million market cap and bankruptcy are being rewarded with “retention” bonuses of 30 million dollars. With performance like that,  why they are being retained for any reason?

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At least the Nortel “retention” bonuses are not being funded by my tax dollars (yet).

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| January 14, 2009
Comments Off on Nortel Declares Bankruptcy

Nortel Declares Bankruptcy

Chinese hackers had widespread access to Nortel's corporate computer networkUpdated 02-14-12 The Wall Street Journal reported that for nearly a decade before Nortel collapsed  Chinese hackers had widespread access to its corporate computer network.

According to the article, the hackers used seven passwords stolen from top Nortel executives, including the chief executive. The suspected Chinese hackers penetrated Nortel’s computers at least as far back as 2000 and over the years downloaded technical papers, research-and-development reports, business plans, employee emails, and other documents.

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Updated 03-12-09 WirelessWeek is citing The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nortel is in talks to sell its core wireless equipment business as well as a separate unit that builds telecom systems for offices, according to anonymous sources in the WSJ.

The WSJ reported that Nortel is talking to Nokia Siemens Networks, to sell its wireless business. Avaya and Siemens Enterprise Communications, a joint venture of Siemens and technology private equity firm Gores Group, are interested in the company’s enterprise unit. Cisco Systems reportedly looked at the enterprise unit but wasn’t expected to bid. Nortel declined to comment.

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Nortel Declares Bankruptcy113-year-old Canadian technology firm Nortel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Nortel’s losses in the third quarter ballooned to $3.41 billion and 1,300 people had to be let go. CEO and President Mike Zafirovski wrote on the company’s Website. “Most importantly, Nortel is still very much in business.”

Next steps for the former Northern Telecom may include selling various business units or receiving a capital investment as a way to go private, According to Avi Cohen, managing partner at analyst firm Avian Securities, on TheStreet.com, “The most likely bidders for Nortel’s assets are Ericsson, Huawei (002502), Nokia Siemens, and Cisco (CSCO). We believe Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Motorola are less likely bidders because they are struggling with their own challenges and would have a hard time financing such a purchase.”

UBS analyst Maynard Um speculated on CED that the acquisition of Nortel by Huawei would be a possible outcome giving the Chinese firm a significant increase in market access in North America. However, this scenario may run into trouble with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) regulations.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| September 5, 2006
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Wi-Fi Mesh Standards Coming Soon

Wi-Fi Mesh Standards Coming SoonIt was noted in the July 2006 IEEE Spectrum, that soon (sometime in late 2008) Wi-Fi Access Points (AP’s) will be able to form mesh networks. Mesh Wi-Fi networks can help make wireless networks cheaper to build and operate by allowing a group of AP’s to communicate with each other and share only one high-speed connection to the Internet. This functionality was provisionally formalized in March 2006 by IEEE in the 802.11s standard. The standard still needs to go through several more IEEE approvals before it is “official.”

IEEE logoThe article pointed out that several manufacturers already have mesh technologies in their AP’s, including Motorola, Nortel, and Tropos. In our opinion, it is reasonable to expect some vendors to push pre-standard products to market prior to official IEEE approval. It is unclear how these pre-standard products will be tested for compatibility and interoperability with other vendor’s products. Vendors may take a “best shot” at their interpretation of the standard and then make their products “standard” after the fact via patches or upgrades. Of course, this patching would be done by the owners and at the owner’s expense, driving up the total cost of ownership.

Cherry, Steven. “Wi-Fi Nodes to Talk Amongst Themselves.” IEEE Spectrum. July 2006. 55-56.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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