Cisco open to Ericsson partnership-paper
STOCKHOLM, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news), the
world's biggest maker of computer networking equipment, said in remarks published on
Saturday it believed the door was open to a strategic partnership with Sweden's Ericsson .
Theo Wegbrans, Cisco's Northern Europe head, said comments from Ericsson chief
executive Kurt Hellstrom last week making clear that the Swedish telecoms equipment maker would focus on wireless
technology made Cisco a logical partner.
''That makes us the logical complement to Ericsson,'' Wegbrans told Sweden's Dagens Industri daily in an interview.
''We hope that Ericsson will become our strategic partner...Hellstrom's comments indicate a new opening for cooperation,'' he
added.
Cisco executives were unavailable for comment but Ericsson information head Pia Gideon said it was not clear to which
remarks Wegbrans was referring.
''We are continuously looking around but are quite happy with the portfolio we have...we are sticking to our strategy of
acquiring complementary small or medium-sized partners,'' she said. Last week Ericsson, which is the world's biggest maker of
mobile systems, said it was not interested in buying Canada's Newbridge Networks.
Wegbrans said that while Cisco admired Ericsson's wireless strength, it was not so impressed with its datacom capacity and
needed to shed excess weight to increase its stock market value.
''Ericsson is a crown jewel, with a lot of mud on it,'' Dagens Industri quoted him as saying.
Last week, Cisco announced a strategic partnership with Swedish telecommunications company Bredbandsbolaget (B2) to
supply it with $200 million of networking equipment for its new high-speed Web access service. The partnership will enable B2
and Cisco to deliver high speed Internet access services to more than half a million households in Sweden.
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