Clearly deciding that the sum of their parts is greater than the whole, standing partners Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Nokia Networks have decided to pool their resources to attack the growing carrier Ethernet equipment market.

Until now, Nokia Siemens has used Juniper as its IP routing partner. (See Nokia Siemens Clings to Juniper.)

Now, though, the two companies are pooling their Carrier Ethernet resources, a move that will strengthen their positions as they compete with the likes of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for business.

And there's plenty of business to win. According to the latest Heavy Reading CESR (Carrier Ethernet Switch Router) Market Tracker figures, the Carrier Ethernet switch market is set to grow from $2.1 billion in 2008 to more than $3.2 billion in 2012. (See CESR Market Likely Flat in 2009.)

The partners say they can offer operators an "end-to-end Carrier Ethernet solution" comprising Juniper's MX metro switches, NSN's A-series metro access switches, and the latter's Aspen management software, and plan to have the combined offering ready for the market in the second half of this year. (See Nokia Siemens Shares Ethernet Secrets.)

At first glance, the main technical hurdle the two companies appear to face is getting the Aspen software to work with Juniper's switches.

NSN says it plans to demonstrate a combined setup with Juniper at next week's Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, where it will run services over HSDPA, with the base station being "backhauled over the complete chain of Carrier Ethernet Transport enabled platforms," including Juniper's MX Ethernet switch.

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading