"It depends on how they do it," she said, noting that while Motorola and Nortel likely would enjoy a complementary relationship to a point, neither firm wants to be mired in the other's trouble. Nortel has seen its stock price sink over the past year as telcos and other customers closed their wallets. Motorola, meanwhile, has lost market share – and customer confidence – to a bevy of competitors, including Ericsson, Nokia, LG and Samsung, said Kevin Lo, a technology analyst with Lightyear Capital Inc. in Calgary. A combined wireless force could be the answer to the companies' prayers. For Nortel, it spells "a way to drive revenue," Thomas said. "This is one way to do it without spending a bundle of money." With Motorola's radio technology know-how, Nortel's research and development costs stay low.