Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Motorola entered into an agreement following which NSN will acquire certain wireless network infrastructure of the latter for a deal valued at $ 1.2 billion.

NSN says that the deal will significantly strengthen its position particularly in the United States and Japan. According to the company, the deal will also give NSN access to over 50 incumbent operators including China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless as well as Vodafone and will strengthen its position in the CDMA segment.

“This is an exciting acquisition that I believe has significant benefits for customers, employees and our shareholders,” said Rajeev Suri, chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks. “Motorola’s current customers will continue to get world-class support for their installed base and a clear path for transitioning to next generation technologies while employees will join an industry leader with global scale and reach. Nokia Siemens Networks will see the benefits of a deal that is expected to enhance profitability and cash-flow and to have significant upside potential.”

“We are pleased to be able to add new relationships with some customers, and reinforce our position with others,” said Suri. “I believe the addition of Motorola’s Networks business will significantly strengthen our worldwide presence, enhance our scale in the United States, Japan and other priority regions and reinforce our leadership position in the global wireless sector.”

Motorola will retain its iDEN business, all the patents related to its wireless network infrastructure business and some other selected assets.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

"Motorola is very proud of the operational and financial performance of our Networks business and its employees, who will now become a valuable addition to Nokia Siemens Networks. We are excited to have reached this agreement to combine our Networks team with such an industry leader," said Greg Brown, Co-CEO of Motorola. "This is great news for our customers, our investors and our people and will allow us to sharpen our strategic focus on providing mission and business critical solutions for our government, public safety, and enterprise customers.”

The deal will also result in about 7,500 employees including from the Indian market shifting loyalties to NSN.