Why is RIM trying to block the Ericsson-Nortel deal?

Research In Motion has been loudly pushing the Canadian government to review, and perhaps block, Ericsson's $1.13 billion winning bid for much of Nortel Networks' wireless assets. But what is it really after?

The Canadian BlackBerry maker has not commented on its motivations, beyond saying that it wants to keep the assets in Canadian hands. Thus, speculation has run rampant about what RIM's true motivations are. The company may want the 600 or so wireless patents that Ericsson stands to win in the deal. Other analysts have speculated that RIM might actually want to run Nortel's CDMA business, which many observers have pointed out would be peculiar since RIM makes smartphones and not networking equipment.

RIM could also stand to benefit by acquiring some of Nortel's LTE engineers, which would give it a leg up on designing phones for the 4G standard as it becomes more prevalent.

The Canadian government is still mulling its options, but whatever the result, it seems RIM stands to lose little and gain much by asking the government to intervene.

For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article [1] (sub. req.)

Related Articles:
Courts approve Ericsson-Nortel deal [2]
Canadian government mulls Ericsson-Nortel intervention [3]
Ericsson wins Nortel wireless assets for $1.1B [4]
Ericsson jumps into Nortel auction fray [5]  
MatlinPatterson outbids NSN on Nortel wireless assets [6]