{"id":4846,"date":"2011-01-10T20:32:25","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T01:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/?p=4846"},"modified":"2022-12-30T15:51:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T20:51:16","slug":"apple-google-picking-nortel-4g-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/apple-google-picking-nortel-4g-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple, Google Picking Nortel 4G Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Apple,– Updated 04-04-11 <\/strong>– Google has offered Nortel $900 million for its patent portfolio<\/strong>. According to the Google Blog<\/a>, Nortel selected the Google bid as the \u201cstalking-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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

But now Sweden-based network equipment maker Ericsson owns<\/strong> most of Nortel’s North American wireless operations<\/strong>, its multi-service switch business, and a Chinese joint venture. Ciena Corp.<\/strong> bought Nortel’s optical networking<\/strong> and carrier Ethernet business, while the Canadian government<\/strong> is taking over Nortel\u2019s Ottawa campus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/a>Nortel had more than 4,000 patents<\/strong>, with a market valuation of about $1 billion<\/strong>. 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<\/em>. Apple<\/a> (AAPL<\/a>)\u00a0and Google<\/a> (GOOG<\/a>)\u00a0are both eying the patents in their escalating wireless wars, Reuters<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

\"Research<\/a>Citing unnamed sources. Von|Xchange<\/a><\/em> says Research In Motion<\/a> (RIMM<\/a>) and Motorola<\/a> (MOT<\/a>) are also said to be eying the intellectual property.\u00a0 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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

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