The formerly high-flying Canadian telecommunications hardware provider Northern Telecom appears to be on its last legs, and Apple and Google are apparently among the vultures circling overhead ready to pick at the most valuable parts of the carcass. The two Silicon Valley companies are said to be among the bidders for Nortel's huge patent portfolio.
Nortel is a company with a history dating back to the earliest days of the telephone, having been established in 1882 by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada to manu
