Let the Nortel Garage Sale Begin!

1375 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
If there was any hope Nortel might re-emerge from bankruptcy protection as a smaller, more focused telecom equipment supplier (e.g. optical), it evaporated yesterday when an Ontario court expanded the responsibilities of Ernst & Young to include the sale of corporate assets.As well, Nortel’s layer, Derrick Tay, told Ontario Superior Cou

Cloud Computing: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

1375 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
We’re in the midst of a revolution or maybe an evolution when it comes to how we use software. Everything is going to be browser-based. The new OS is the Web browser. The cloud is the computer.But is it really?As much as I’m a Web 2.0 junkie (beta, anyone?), I’m also using a lot of [...]

Sonus Pursuing Nortel’s VoIP Business?

1375 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
As the Nortel Garage Sale continues, it looks like the company’s VoIP business could be the next bargain to be snapped up.Samih Elhage, president of Nortel’s carrier VoIP and application solutions business, told the Financial Post earlier this week that a “stalking horse bid” was on the near horizon.Lightreading reports tha

Shooting Down the Avro Arrow

1376 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Andrew Coyne has a pointed and interesting column in Maclean’s looking at RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis’ claim that allowing Nortel’s CDMA wireless business and LTE R&D unit be sold to Ericsson would be akin to the decision to cancel the Avro Arrow aircraft in 1959.“Let us learn from our history and not make the same [...]

Ottawa Won’t Block CDMA Sale

1377 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
As I’m expounded on several occasions since Ericsson’s $1.13 billion bid to buy Nortel’s CDMA wireless business and LTE R&D unit received court approval, the deal will not be blocked by the Canadian government.Sure, there’s a lot of politicians talking about protecting national assets, and the government talks about re

The Board’s CEO Miscues

1377 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
You can look long and hard at what Nortel’s board could have done or should have done, particularly over the past three years while it let CEO Mike Zafirovski drive the company into the ground. (And folks, let’s stop sugar-coating Mike Z.’s performance by citing accounting issues, the economy, fierce competition, the credit crunc

Who’s Looking for a Good MEN?

1378 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Amid Mike Z.’s decision to abandon ship, the sale of the CDMA business to Ericsson, and calls for the federal government to block the Ericsson deal, it’s been interesting to see how little attention has been paid to Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networking business. This is, after all, a business that was seen as Nortel’s crown [

It’s Not Just Mike Z.’s Fault

1378 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
As much as Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski did an excellent job over the past 3+ years in killing Canada’s flagship high-tech company, it would be remiss to not shine the spotlight on the board, and the role it failed to play in providing much-needed supervision of the senior management, as well as serve the interests [...]

Mike Z.’s Legacy = Fail

1379 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
After a 29-year career, Mike Zafirovski really wanted to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. So, after being abruptly passed over as Motorola’s head honcho, he took a deal with the devil when he agreed to become Nortel’s CEO in late-2005.At the time, Nortel was a mess. It was still engulfed in a [...]

1,000 Jobs Cuts Coming in Enterprise

1379 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
While Mike Zafirovski’s departure as Nortel’s CEO captured the spotlight today, there’s also big news from the enterprise business.Joel Hackney, who heads up the enterprise business (at least for now given Mike Z. has left the house) said in a Webcast today that 1,000 enterprise jobs will be slashed by the end of Q3 so [...]

Mike Zafirovski’s Last Z-Mail

1379 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
For those of you who are avid Z-Mail readers, this is a sad day as it marks the final Z-Mail to come from Mike Z. Enjoy!Team Nortel:This will be my last Zmail to you, and let me say upfront how much I have appreciated working with you and valued your tenacity, professionalism and dedication. As [...]

Mike Zafirovski Has Left the Building

1380 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Apparently, Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski has announced his leaving, while the board of directors has been reduced to three people.More to come….

The New Nortel: Post-Mike Z.

1380 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Here’s the e-mail sent to Nortel employees this morning by CFO Pavi Binning that outlines the new organization structure in the wake of CEO Mike Zafirovski’s departure and the shrinking of Nortel’s board to three from nine.NortelToday Nortel announced important organizational changes, including a new organizational structure. The

Much Ado About Nothing

1382 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
So, the politicians got to hold an emergency meeting yesterday on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to review Nortel’s sale of its CDMA wireless business and LTE R&D unit to Ericsson for $1.13-billion.Here’s mini-synopsis:- After extensive negotiations, RIM thought it had a deal to buy the LTE patents a few months ago before Nortel filed

Mike Z.’s Last Days at Nortel?

1382 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
As AAN reported yesterday, there is growing speculation that CEO Mike Zafirovski may be leaving Nortel soon.The Wall St. Journal reports today Mike Z. is planning on leaving, “according to people familiar with the matter”. My sources “familiar with the matter” suggest an announcement could be made on Monday.The speculation

Nortel’s LTE Patents a “National Treasure”

1382 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
You’ve got to hand it to Research in Motion; it’s making an impassioned and nationalistic pitch for Nortel’s LTE patents.At an emergency parliamentary hearing this morning looking into Nortel’s plan to sell its CDMA wireless business LTE R&D business to Ericsson for $1.13-billion, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said Nortel&

Nortel Retirees to Demonstrate

1383 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
As a parliamentary standing committee holds an emergency hearing on Friday into the sale of Nortel assets, Nortel retirees, long-term disabled and recently terminated employees will hold demonstration that morning on Parliament Hill.In a press release, Nortel Retirees and Former Employees Protection Committee said the demonstration is being held b

Where Was the Canadian Government?

1383 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Here’s a question that no one seems to be asking as the political uproar builds into the sale of Nortel assets (aka The Nortel Garage Sale): Why did the federal government decide not to provide Nortel with financial support despite holding numerous meetings with the company? (Note: Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said there were 13 [...]

Alert: An Interview with Mike Z.

1383 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Now before anyone gets too excited that Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski did an interview with ANN, l should point out he spoke with the Globe & Mail’s Gord Pitts.Kudos to Pitts for getting an interview with Zafirovski, who has maintained an extremely low profile since Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Other than a [...]

Parliamentary Committee to Hold Emergency Hearing

1385 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
You just have to love the sense of political urgency swirling around Ottawa these days over the future of Nortel. After ignoring the company’s struggles, including a declaration in mid-June that all of its assets were on the block, the politicos are suddenly alive with the cause.Bloomberg reports that a Canadian Parliamentary committee will

Enterprise Bids Due by Sept. 4

1385 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
For people interested in what’s happening with Nortel’s enterprise business, Ernst & Young has a monitor’s report (#24) that provides some interesting details.According to an affidavit made by Nortel’s chief technology officer, George Riedl, Nortel started shopping the enterprise business in late-2008 after determining

Enterprise Restructuring?

1385 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
With Nortel’s enterprise business on the block – Avaya’s got a $475-million “stalking horse” offer on the table – it looks like there’s some pre-sale restructuring happening amid speculation significant layoffs could happen within the next two weeks.

Is the End of Nortel Premature?

1387 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Six weeks ago (June 19 to be exact), Nortel issued a press release about the proposed sale of its CDMA wireless business and LTE R&D unit to Nokia Siemens.While that was major news, the more significant development was Nortel disclosing that “it is advancing in its discussions with external parties to sell its other businesses. [...]

Where’s Ernst & Young or Nortel?

1389 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Here’s an interesting e-mail sent to Nortel’s employees in Europe and the Middle East about updates and layoffs within the region. The curious part is the e-mail is signed by “EMEA Employee Communications”, as opposed to Nortel or the bankruptcy monitor/administrator, Ernst & YoungEMEA Restructuring Plans The restructu

Can A New Nortel Still Emerge?

1390 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Nortel has received approval from a Canadian court to extend its protection from creditors under the terms of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) to Oct. 30, 2009.In a press release, the company said: “The purpose of the stay of proceedings is to allow the Nortel companies to continue to advance in discussions with interest

Protecting Nortel’s Future

1390 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Have to say the Ottawa Citizen continues to lead the way when it comes to Nortel coverage.Today, James Bagnell has an opinion piece looking at why it’s important for strong players to acquire Nortel’s assets – something that would protect the technology that Nortel has developed over the year, and, as important, give Nortel’

Nortel: RIP?

1391 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
A good article by Andrew Wahl in the latest issue of Canadian Business about the demise of Nortel, and how a recent meeting of business people hosted by Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement to talk about the future of Canada’s high-tech economy saw little talk about the country’s flagship high-tech company.

Gores/Siemens to Bid on Enterprise Unit

1391 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
Not that this is a surprise but Gores Group and Siemens AG said it is putting together a bid to buy Nortel’s enterprise business.The venture, called Enterprise Networks Holdings (ENH), has filed a a limited objection to the proposed bidding procedures for the Nortel unit in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.According [..

A Case for Staying on the Sidelines

1392 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
The National Post’s John Ivison has a good blog post looking at why it makes little sense for the Canadian government to stop the sale of Nortel’s CDMA and LTE R&D unit to Ericsson.Here’s a short excerpt:There have been suggestions that, since the government bailed out GM and Chrysler, it should intervene to prevent Nortel’s

Nortel: We Still Own the LTE Patents

1392 days ago      From: All About Nortel      
If there was any uncertainty, Nortel made it clear that it is not – repeat not – selling any of its LTE patents under the planned sale of wireless assets to Ericsson. (Update: Two courts have approved Ericsson’s $1.13-billion offer, according to the Globe & Mail.)The Wall St. Journal reports that Nortel lawyer Derrick Tay [.