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Telecom equipment manufacturer Nortel (News - Alert) Networks Corp. on Monday confirmed that it is in discussions with Ciena Corporation for the planned sale of substantially all assets within its “Optical Networking” and “Carrier Ethernet” businesses.

According to a brief statement put out by Toronto-based Nortel, the outcome of these discussions is uncertain and subject to negotiation of definitive agreements. Additionally, any agreements would be subject to a competitive bidding process to be approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The news comes nearly one month after the equipment manufacturer announced plans to sell its enterprise and government assets to UC service provider Avaya (News - Alert) for $990 billion.

Under terms of the agreement, Avaya – which Joel Hackney, Nortel’s president of Enterprise Solutions, said beat out two other bidders – will retain at least 75 percent of the Nortel’s current workforce in its government, enterprise solutions and DiamondWare (News - Alert) Ltd., divisions.

 

“This announcement removes another layer of uncertainty,” Hackney said during a 25-minute conference call with media and analysts, in mid September. “All of you know the challenges we’ve been faced with in this environment. But we’ve never wavered in our strategy and our commitment to customers.”

 

Avaya provides unified communications, contact centers, and related services directly and through its channel partners to enterprises worldwide. 

 

Pending court approvals in Canada, the United States and any other applicable courts, including those in France and Israel, the sale transaction expected to be certified by the courts on Sept. 15 and officially close by late December. At that time Avaya will unveil its unified product roadmap and services strategy.

 

Hackney assured one caller that it will continue to support platforms based on its most popular equipment, like the Communications Server 2100, although any “integration activities” are on hold until the end of the year, when the deal closes.