It may prove to be a complicated day for Nortel.
The Enterprise Division and its 6,000 jobs are being auctioned off on Friday.
Avaya is the front runner, offering $475 million. Nortel refuses to name any other bidders.
Meanwhile, there's a special court hearing this afternoon to review allegations by Verizon that U.S. national security is at stake because if Avaya wins the bid, they may not provide service to Nortel gear in key military and emergency systems.
Most analysts are giving Avaya the edge in the bidding process because the company seems to want it more. If they get it, Avaya will become number one in the market just in front of Cisco. And there is another local angle, Mitel is a competitor. They are in the same market, so they will face two huge competitors and that could make their life tough.
As for jobs, in Ottawa there are about 500 to 600 people and another 300 in Belleville. Those who work in the Enterprise division tell CTV Ottawa that if Avaya wins, the company will cut a lot of staff. They are an established firm in this space and they need Nortel's customers more than they need its employees. How many will go? People are pretty pessimistic and think the cuts would be pretty broad.
The last auction for Nortel's wireless unit took nearly 16 hours. Some think it will be a lot faster to reach a decision this time around. And if the winner is Avaya, then the court hearing this afternoon could become significant. The same judge will rule next week on whether he accepts the winner of the bid.
