Industry analysts are speculating that Canadian vendor Nortel may be planning to spin off its UMTS business following rumours of organisational changes within the company.

Nikos Theodosopoulos, analyst with investment bank UBS, said that he has received information which suggests that Nortel has organisationally separated the GSM and UMTS access businesses, “a move that may presage a potential spin-off/disposal of the UMTS access business”.

Nortel is one of the largest vendors which has remained noticeably uninvolved in the recent spate of equipment manufacturer mergers. The recently announced four year strategic alliance between Nortel and Microsoft as well as a focus on enterprise channel partnerships, indicate that the enterprise space continues to be an area of increasing focus.

Motorola is another manufacturer that has not participated in any of the mega-mergers that have seen Lucent and Alcatel and Nokia and Siemens come together in recent months. But the vendor yesterday formed a UMTS kit partnership with Chinese vendor Huawei, which could be an indicator of future strategy.

Nortel has also been wrong-footed this week by the departure of the vice president and general managers for WiMAX and Converged Core Networks including IMS. No replacements have yet been identified and the developments could put Nortel in a predicament as UBS points out that both IMS and WiMAX are two of three key strategic areas of focus for Nortel.

Manx Telecom and Lucent Technologies announced a comprehensive agreement that continues the evolution of Manx Telecom’s network to support a wide array of “blended” Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), data and video services over a converged network that combines third-generation (3G) wireless technology and the latest wireline broadband access capabilities.

Under the agreement Lucent will supply Manx Telecom with additional elements of its industry-leading IMS solution to support advanced multimedia services. Lucent also will increase the capacity of Manx Telecom’s wireless network and upgrade the carrier’s broadband wireline network with the Lucent Multimedia Access Platform (MMAP), an all-IP solution that enables service providers to profitably deliver high-bandwidth video/IPTV, VoIP and multimedia services to the mass market.

In addition, Lucent Worldwide Services will provide network installation, design, integration and migration services as well as its suite of VitalSuiteВ® network management products.

The new contract builds on a previous pact under which the two companies have already deployed a super-fast, multimedia network based on 3G High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology. Lucent-supplied infrastructure has been supporting commercial services based on 3G UMTS and HSDPA technology.

“We are excited to embark on this next phase of our collaboration with Lucent on the deployment of this showcase network on the Isle of Man,” said Mike Loundes, CTO of Manx Telecom. “We led the way in the wireless industry with the launch of the world’s first commercial HSDPA network and with this project, we continue to break new ground with one of the industry’s first fully converged networks.”

The upgraded network will enable Manx Telecom to offer VoIP services to enterprises and consumers, “blended lifestyle” services — that combine voice, data and video capabilities — and offerings such as “converged voice services” that enable subscribers to access both voice and data services over WiFi and cellular networks using a single phone.

“Manx Telecom is constantly looking to provide the latest and best value services to our customers, and this collaboration is simply the latest demonstration of that commitment,” said Chris Hall, managing director of Manx Telecom. “This network will enable the delivery of these services.”

As part of this project Lucent will replace Manx Telecom’s existing broadband and GSM core network infrastructures whilst augmenting its 3G UMTS network. Lucent also will supply Manx Telecom with Lucent Ethernet Routers (a recent acquisition from Riverstone Networks) to support the high reliability and scalability necessary to deliver the user Quality of Experience (QoE) for the new IP-based blended services.

“This is an all-encompassing end-to-end solution, with the IMS architecture at its core, that will continue to support existing voice services while enabling the introduction of innovative new multimedia services,” said Andy Williams, president, Lucent Technologies Europe.

The new contract incorporates several products from Lucent’s IMS portfolio including the Lucent Session Manager, Lucent Feature Server, Lucent Communication Manager, Lucent Compact Switch, Lucent Network Gateway and Lucent Network Controller. Lucent also will supply key elements of its Multimedia Networking Solutions portfolio include the Lucent Multimedia Access Platform, Lucent Ethernet Routers and Juniper Networks M-series Multiservice Edge Routers and E-series Broadband Services Routers.

Lucent also will provide its VitalSuiteВ® Network Performance Management software, VitalSuiteВ® Integrated Service Assurance software, VitalSuiteВ® Service Activation Management software and VitalSuiteВ® IP Address Management software to manage and provision new services for the converged network.

The Lucent-supplied high-speed network, now in commercial use, has allowed Manx Telecom to introduce new, mobile high-speed data services such as DVD-quality streaming video, fast downloads of very large files including music, as well as Virtual Private Network (VPN) access to corporate networks.

In the framework of the merger announced on April 2, 2006, Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced the formation of the team that will lead both companies’ integration and transition planning efforts. The joint Integration Team will consist of an Integration Program Office, dedicated Work Groups, and a Steering Council.

The Integration Program Office will be responsible for the overall project planning, schedule, and results. As previously announced, Christian Reinaudo has been appointed, EVP Program Office Leader for Alcatel. Janet Davidson, Chief Strategy Officer of Lucent Technologies, has been appointed EVP Integration Program Office Leader for Lucent Technologies.

The Work Groups will be responsible for the detailed integration and transition plans for their functional areas consistent with overall project goals and objectives, including synergy realization. A dedicated person per function from each of the companies will be part of these Work Groups.

The Steering Council will supervise the integration planning efforts to ensure that all project objectives and goals are met, including expected synergies. The members representing Alcatel are Mike Quigley, Alcatel’s President and chief operating officer, Jean-Pascal Beaufret, Alcatel’s chief financial officer, and Christian Reinaudo. The members representing Lucent Technologies are Frank D’Amelio, Lucent’s chief operating officer, John Kritzmacher, Lucent’s chief financial officer and Janet Davidson.

Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel’s Chairman and CEO, and Patricia Russo, Lucent Technologies’ Chairman and CEO, will co-chair the overall integration process, make final decisions and ensure reporting to their respective Board of Directors.