LG-Nortel and Taiwan-based equipment company, Accton, have announced a joint venture that will offer voice and data solutions to North American small and medium businesses and large enterprises.

LG-Nortel will own a 60 percent share in the joint venture and Accton Group will own 40 percent. The new company will be tentatively named Edgecore Networks Inc., which was a subsidiary of Accton and a specialized North American sales company for network solutions. The joint venture will be established by mid-February from headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

The move will combine the SMB voice and data product expertise of LG-Nortel with Edgecore Networks’ marketing and sales capability, SMB channels, and logistics skills. Combining these capabilities will position the joint venture to take full charge of the SMB and enterprise equipment business of LG-Nortel and Accton across the U.S. and Canada, according to the companies. Both companies will cooperate in every aspect of their businesses including R&D, manufacturing, marketing, new business development, and brand use.

“LG-Nortel is taking another bold step in North America,” said Lee. “Like LG-Nortel, Accton is an innovative leader in its market. This partnership will provide significant new opportunities to reinforce our brand, increasing our global competitiveness and helping our customers embrace the future opportunities and challenges of the converged communications market.”

“The establishment of this joint venture will significantly enhance LG-Nortel’s presence in North America,” said Leith Tessy, chief operating officer of LG-Nortel. “Businesses have more complex communications challenges than ever, and the combination of our companies’ respective strengths will provide an unparalleled opportunity to help them meet those challenges.”