Nortel and Microsoft Team Up in Voice Networking Partnership

6:00 am on July 20, 2006 | Category: Business, Internet, Telecom Services, Telephone, VoIP

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Canadian telecom equipment manufacturer, Nortel Networks, has agreed to partner with Microsoft in a plan to grab a $1 billion slice of the corporate telephone networking business during the next four years.

The deal was announced on Tuesday by Mike Zafirovski and Steve Ballmer, CEOs of Nortel and Microsoft, respectively.

This so called “innovative communications alliance” is intended to make headway in the business VoIP technology market while jointly defending the market shares of both companies.

”Business communication is rapidly moving to an IP (internet protocol) base,” Microsoft chief executive, Steve Ballmer commented. ”That means hundreds of millions of people will be getting new equipment over the next four or five years a gigantic opportunity for us and for Nortel.”

The agreement is not exclusive and allows Nortel to continue working with IBM and Intel, while Microsoft pursues partnerships with Siemens and Motorola. The Nortel-Microsoft deal is much more extensive, however, and includes joint research, marketing, and integration work.

“Both sides are putting in millions of dollars in people and resources,” assured Microsoft marketing executive, Greg St. James. “We are very bullish on the opportunity.”

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    Published by TeleClick Enterprises
    Edited by Jeremy Maddock