A regular reader and commenter dropped me an email to point out that I hadn't written anything about this story:

Nortel Acquires Pingtel's Business to Extend Unified Communications
Capabilities
Pingtel Advanced Software Adds New Offerings Quickly to Nortel Portfolio

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Aug 13, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Nortel today announced its acquisition of Pingtel Corp.'s business. U.S.-based Pingtel(2) is a designer of software-based unified communications solutions and is owned by Bluesocket Inc(2), an enterprise mobility solutions provider. Pingtel will provide new software capabilities to Nortel's enterprise unified communications portfolio, as well as additional research and development capabilities. This transaction brings Pingtel's existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationship with Nortel in-house.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nortel will acquire the key assets of Pingtel from Bluesocket Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Pingtel employees will be integrated into Nortel's Billerica, Massachusetts facilities.

"This acquisition is another building block in Nortel's vision to be a software-centric company and the leading provider of unified communications solutions," said David Downing, general manager, Enterprise and SMB Communications Systems, Nortel. "We believe that bringing Pingtel's critical R&D capabilities in-house will enable us to further develop software-based solutions that go beyond the boundaries of our previous OEM relationship. We expect that this will enable Nortel to accelerate the development of new IT-centric channels to market."
[Read full MarketWatch Story]

It seems like only yesterday that Bluesocket bought Pingtel, a purchase which never quite made sense to most industry watchers.

It's good news for the open source community as everyone involved is openly assuring continued support of the sipExecs project The word is "our commitment is unchanged." And the Pingtel team hopes that with Nortel's resources they'll be able to expand the scope.

Two other articles caught my eye about this acquisition:
On the sipXecs blog - Nortel purchases Pingtel Assets from Bluesocket
And from my friend Rich Tehrani - Nortel's PingTel Strategy

Rich's post is scant, but points to the Hyperconnected Enterprise blog:

1. Our strategy is UC, and sipXecs is a native SIP solution consistent with our strategy.
2. Our strategy is user and application scalability..
3. Our strategy is centered on delivering high Quality of Experience.
4. Our strategy is centered on delivering Simplifications.

There are plenty, but not excessive words about why this is a great thing. But I think enthusiasm is tempered with some reality, a factor we often overlook in our enthusiasm. It's barely been two weeks since Nortel announced their 2Q08 financials, and overall those were met with a yawn. Sure, Nortel's release says that revenue is up and margins are better.

Here are a few mentions of that:
Global & Mail: Nortel not down and out yet, analyst says
Network World: Nortel 2008 2nd quarter results: Strong interest in 40G products with 20 wins
Mark Evans: "Challenging" = Tough Times
Canadian Press: Nortel loses US$113 million in Q2 as revenues rise two per cent to $2.62 billion

I found the press and coverage to be overly kind, and was glad to see someone take a more realistic view -

"I don't think it was a disaster, but it shows the reality of a tough industry, a tough turnaround and a bear market," says Michael Urlocker, a technology analyst with GMP Securities LLP - Wall Street Journal

Why did the hackles on the back of my neck tingle when I read this. Could be that the Pingtel team will be integrated into Billerica, MA. That's Bay Networks home for you old-timers. An example of integration that still doesn't work well years later. Too many years in the tech sector to bother counting.

I'm watching Nortel, but I don't have high hopes. I think the revamped management team at Nortel has aimed straight at mediocrity - and they're falling just a touch short. I hate saying that because Nortel has always been one of my favorite companies. But they've floundered and made fare to many mis-steps in recent years.

I'm still watching for a sign they'll pull out of the spiral before they slide into the abyss. This wasn't the sign for me.