Nortel flogging GSM biz

Right, what's left then?

Nortel is to auction off its GSM business, following the successful sale of its enterprise division to Avaya for $900m.

The GSM business is expected to go for less cash as revenues are declining compared to CDMA - which was sold to Ericsson in July.

Nortel said it would seek court approval for an open auction of its GSM business including relevant patents. Nortel's GSM tech for railway operators is included in the deal.

The company must now get court approval in the US and Canada for the sale.

Pavi Binning, chief restructuring officer at Nortel, said there had been interest in the business during initial discussions.

Assuming court approval, bidders would have until 5 November to register an offer ahead of an auction on 9 November.

In the UK and Europe administrators could conduct their own sale.

Nortel said again that it does not expect the process to result in any value for shareholders. ®