Nortel in wireless hardware sale
Networking vendor offloads fixed wireless hardware business to Airspan
Nortel Networks has sold its fixed wireless hardware business to networking vendor Airspan in a £7.6m deal.
Airspan said it will acquire Nortel's assets associated with the manufacture, development and support of the fixed wireless product line sold by Nortel Networks under the Proximity trade name. The deal is likely to close by the end of the year.
"This represents a major milestone in the growth of Airspan," said Eric Stonestrom, chief executive of Airspan Networks.
"The acquisition of Nortel's fixed wireless access business will solidify Airspan's position as the leader in the fixed wireless market."
In a separate move, Nortel rival Avaya has sold its fibre optic cable division to Commscope for £156m. Avaya, which was spun off from Lucent three years ago, has been rejigging its channel strategy, and the sale not only raises funds but allows the firm to focus on IP telephony.
"It seems wise to dis-invest from optical - in the short term at least," said Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at analyst EuroLAN.
"Suppliers are busy trying to give solid return on investment today rather than at some point in the future."