I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't really April 1st.... A Reuters newswire article, via Yahoo! News, reports that: [snip] Cisco Systems Inc. is considering buying the world's top mobile handset maker Nokia in a bid to gain its wireless infrastructure technology, the Business newspaper reported on Sunday. The paper, which did not reveal the source of its information, said U.S.-based Cisco had traditionally concentrated on acquisitions of niche technology players, but its Chief Executive John Chambers is believed to be interested in merging with a wireless infrastructure company. "Nokia has been identified as the most likely target," the paper said. Cisco, the largest maker of Internet equipment, is worth around $123 billion, while Nokia's market value is around $71 billion. The paper said Cisco's mainstay networking market was fast changing with the convergence of fixed-line and wireless networks, and Cisco needed a merger to acquire the technology to create intelligent wireless applications, which Finnish-based Nokia could provide. Cisco was not immediately available for comment. A Nokia spokeswoman in Helsinki declined to comment. [snip] http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050807/bs_nm/telecoms_cisco_nokia_dc - ferg -- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg@netzero.net or fergdawg@sbcglobal.net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/