10:15 AM -- What will become of Nortel Networks Ltd. 's Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) division?

Six months ago the division, which houses Nortel's optical and carrier Ethernet assets, was officially on the block. (See Nortel to Sell Carrier Ethernet, Optical Biz.)

Then, following its bankruptcy protection proceedings, Nortel seemed keener to hold on to it. (See Nortel to Hold MEN and Nortel Files for Bankruptcy Protection.)

Now, according to this Bloomberg report, Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN) is considering a bid for the business that includes Nortel's 100 Gbit/s optical platform. (See Et Tu, Morin? Then Fall, CESR!)

The rumor comes only a few weeks after Nortel announced the sale of some enterprise data assets, and only days after reports suggested Nortel is close to selling off its wireless and enterprise business units. (See Is Nortel Prepping a Major Sale? and Nortel to Offload Data Gear to Radware.)

Well, we love a bit of speculation here at Light Reading -- so much so that, when Nortel announced in September last year that MEN was up for sale, we canvassed the industry to determine the most likely (if any!) buyer. (See Huawei Seen as Likely Nortel Suitor.)

At the time, only one person of 50 cited Ciena as a potential buyer of Nortel's MEN division.

Was that individual a sage? Or a crazy person? EuroBlog can almost smell the excitement -- and it smells like cherry pie...

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading