Ericsson is selling its enterprise PBX business unit to Canada's Aastra Technologies for $103 million. It's a move that reflects interest by Ericsson in focusing on the service provider market--and focusing on carriers as its primary channel into enterprises--rather than remaining diversified with its own extensions into the enterprise market. That would be a bold move at a time when service provider outlooks seem to be lacking in confidence.
However, it also removes what has long seemed like a potential area of conflict for equipment vendors catering to both enterprise and carrier clients. The enterprise segment is growing in importance for carriers, and it is quite possible that in selling to enterprises, equipment vendors could run into their largest carrier customers as competitors. Ericsson is going with the carriers, but several other vendors still play both sides.
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