Motorola in talks to sell networking unit

Cellphone maker Motorola Inc is in talks with Nokia Siemens Networks to sell its wireless- networking business for $1.2 billion, a media report said.

"Motorola plans to exit the wireless-networking business with a $1.2 billion sale of much of its equipment division to Nokia Siemens Networks, as Motorola's board moves closer to splitting the company in two," The Wall Street Journal said.

The announcement of a Motorola deal with Nokia Siemens, could come as early as Monday, the report said citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said that proceeds would increase Motorola's cash pile as it plans to spin off its cellphone and cable set-top box divisions into a separate company early next year.

Under the proposed deal, Nokia Siemens would buy Motorola's network unit, which makes gears that wirelessly transmit voice, data and video on both the CDMA and GSM technologies used around the world, the daily noted.

Motorola's network unit offers Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Finland's Nokia Corp and Germany's Siemens AG, a long-coveted foothold in Japanese and US markets.

The unit makes mostly older networking technologies, but the purchase would give Nokia Siemens instant access to top US wireless carriers, including Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp, as well as KDDI Corp in Japan.