Cisco, Motorola to buy Bosch Telecom for LMDS

Cisco Systems and Motorola announced yesterday that they intend to jointly purchase Bosch Telecom, a US unit of Germany's Robert Bosch, in a move designed to increase the pair's focus on a particular type of wireless technology.

Bosch Telecom, based in Texas, specialises in offering the fixed wireless point-to-multipoint communication technology LMDS (local multipoint distribution services). LMDS can effectively replace existing phone lines and cables by making use of a reception dish instead and is significantly cheaper and less resource-intensive than wireline technology, according to a joint release from Cisco and Motorola issued yesterday.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco and Motorola will set up a new company known as SpectraPoint Wireless to deliver broadband wireless services bringing together high-speed Net-based data, voice and video for LMDS, the joint release said. SpectraPoint is the name of Bosch's LMDS product offering.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Motorola is to be the majority stakeholder in SpectraPoint. The deal, dependent on receiving government approval, is likely to close June 30, the statement said.

Cisco and Bosch have already been working for a year on creating networks for LMDS licence holders in Australia and the US, the joint release said.

Today's tie-up is the second partnership between Cisco and Motorola to be announced this year. In February, the duo announced that they would jointly invest $US1 billion over the next four to five years in creating a global wireless Internet architecture, as well as cross-license technology and develop products together.

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