"Execution is the big risk…[such as] maintaining R&D production, employees, [doing] cost rationalization where they need to," according to Matt Thornton, senior analyst at Avian Securities LLC , who notes that NSN "doesn't have a gargantuan balance sheet."

From a financial point of view, Thornton says the valuation looks "very reasonable" for Motorola's assets. "If you're NSN, you get customer footprint and North American exposure… at a reasonable price, and [the deal is expected to be] cash flow and margin accretive."

Nomura International 's global technology specialist, Richard Windsor, says that this deal would give NSN access to customers, but he questions what that opportunity will actually be for NSN.

"Given that Motorola has been seen as a vendor that's on the way out, a lot of carriers may have already gotten out of their long-term commitments with Motorola," says Windsor. "So, what looks like a customer opportunity may not be."

Heavy Reading senior analyst Gabriel Brown feels NSN's choices about which products to support will be important. NSN will need to "act and communicate decisively" about its product portfolio plans, he says.

"NSN will have learnt its lesson from the Nokia-Siemens merger about the need to streamline the product portfolio," says Brown. "CDMA is straightforward because NSN does not have its own CDMA products. The point that's up in the air is LTE and, especially, Motorola's WiMax-to-LTE migration strategy."

Heavy Reading believes that Nokia Siemens will continue to make the Flexi Multiradio Base Station (BTS) platform its primary LTE platform. "But where does this leave WiMax?" questions Brown. "The CDMA-to-LTE strategy, as pursued by KDDI Corp. in Japan, will also need attention."

Heavy Reading senior consultant Berge Ayvazian also stresses the need for decisiveness on how NSN will handle the migration from WiMax to TD-LTE for Motorola's WiMax customer base of 41 operators in 21 countries.

"Half of Motorola's incumbent relationships are represented by this WiMax base," says Ayvazian. "These operator customers will be watching closely over the next six months and prior to the closing of the acquisition. Motorola will need to act and communicate decisively on this point, and the hand-off to NSN will be key to retaining and expanding these relationships."

CCS Insight 's Paolo Pescatore, director of operator strategy, says NSN's acquisition of Moto's wireless infrastructure business is "timely." But how NSN decides to support Motorola's WiMax customers in their next-generation migration plans is not what matters now.

"It doesn't really matter," says Pescatore, "because [NSN] have got their bases covered. NSN could say: 'We can continue to support you on WiMax or move you to TD-LTE.' "

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile