DEALS: Ericsson buys Marconi for $2.1B


Ericsson's acquisition of Marconi tops the chart.


DEALS

WHO

WITH

WHAT

SCOOP

Ericsson

Marconi

Ericsson to acquire bulk of Marconi for $2.1B

Marconi has agreed to sell its name and telecom equipment assets to Ericsson for £1.2B ($2.1B). Marconi will retain its service business under the name Telent.

Nintendo

Wayport

Launch Nintendo WiFi hotspots in McDonald's restaurants

Nintendo and Wayport will offer free WiFi hotspots for Nintendo DS gamers in McDonald's restaurants across the US. Wayport plans to add 1,000 WiFi-enabled McDonald's to its existing 6,000 WiFi-enabled locations.

Palm

RIM

Licensing deal allows Treo 650 users to access BlackBerry email software

BlackBerry Connect will show up as an option on Palm's VersaMail email client. The deal also marks the first time that Treo customers can use automatic synchronization with calendaring.

Virgin Mobile

Carphone Warehouse

Launching an MVNO in France

Virgin and Carphone will jointly create and own the mobile service offering that will rent access on France Telecom's Orange network and offer mobile calling under the Virgin Mobile France brand.

Nortel

Websense

Web content filtering solution for GSM/UMTS mobile handsets

The deal combines Nortel's mobile data inspection software and Websense's filtering solution. The URL filtering and security solution will allow GSM/UMTS wireless operators to set handheld Internet access policies for subscribers.

Nokia

Putian

$111M deal for 3G technologies

Putian will invest 51% of the $111M venture and Nokia will put up the other 49%. The companies plan to focus on R&D, manufacturing, and marketing of commercial 3G products based on both European WCDMA and China's own TD-SCDMA.

Taiwan

Intel

Taiwan will serve as a testing ground for WiMax

The Taiwanese government plans to fund the $209M project and will also provide spectrum allocation while Intel provides technical assistance.

Ericsson

Oi

Data services in Brazil

Ericsson and GSM operator Oi will provide Ericsson Mobile Organizer (EMO) to enterprises and end users in Brazil. Ericsson will be responsible for integration, day-to-day hosting of the push email solution, and round-the-clock operation and maintenance through regional operation centers.

Ericsson

Rogers Communications

Launching UMTS-HSPDA trials

During the trials in Toronto, the companies also plan to assess IMS technology. They expect the IMS technology to enable a triple play of voice, data and video on demand through mobile phones.