In order to hold its position in North America, Nokia Siemens Networks will be buying Motorola Inc.'s wireless-network business for $1.2 billion in cash. Though, it has failed to buy other assets.

This would make it the third-largest supplier of wireless-networking equipment in the U. S., shared the joint venture between Nokia Corp. and Siemens. On the basis of revenue, it will become the second-largest vendor globally.

At present, Sweden's L. M. Ericsson is the market leader, seconded by China's Huawei. The deal will be closed by the end of the year, as per the venture.

The rival bidders Ericsson and Ciena Corp beat Nokia Siemens, which was wishing to purchase similar assets last year from bankrupt Canadian vendor Nortel Networks.

It was predicted by Analyst Tavis McCourt at Morgan Keegan that a good sale will be able to change the Motorola networking division into a business with good growth prospects. Presently, it is an independent company, which is under pressure to perform in a severely competitive market.

Scott French, Vice President of wireless mobility solutions for Motorola said, "We're increasingly spending more time with government CIOs rather than with people who work for the CIO".

He shared this thought in an interview with eWEEK, prior to the announcement of the sale of the telecommunications equipment business to Nokia Siemens was made.