A rumor circulated this morning that Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) or Nokia Networks was planning to acquire Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN). That appears to be debunked for the moment, but other companies are considering acquiring Ciena, according to Eve Griliches, a managing partner with ACG Research.

"Other companies are looking at the combined companies before they even combine," she tells Light Reading.

The attraction is Ciena's upcoming acquisition of the Nortel Networks Ltd. Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) division. Ciena won MEN in an auction, beating out Nokia Siemens, but the deal won't be closed for some months yet. (See Ciena Beats NSN to Buy Nortel's MEN.)

Nokia Siemens clearly wanted MEN and even tried putting up a last-minute, $810 million bid that the courts shot down. (See NSN Hopes Dashed as Ciena/Nortel Deal OK'd.)

Earlier today, Ciena shares rose as much as 6 percent, reportedly on speculation that Nokia or Nokia Siemens was considering buying the company. Barron's first reported the rumor late this morning.

But early this afternoon, Reuters reported that a source "close to NSN" says no such deal is in the works.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading