Rumours are doing the rounds that Alcatel-Lucent has signed an agreement with Nortel, giving the mega vendor first option to buy the Canadian firm’s GSM business should it come up for sale.

According to a document apparently acquired by French daily Les Echos, Alcatel-Lucent would have 30 days to make a first offer, before the sale is opened up to other bidders.

The option reportedly runs until 2008 for Nortel’s GSM technology and until 2010 for LTE technology.

In September last year, Alcatel acquired Nortel’s UMTS network radio access business and related assets for $320m.

However, the Les Echos report raises some questions as Alcatel supposedly got its hands on Nortel’s LTE technology with the UMTS unit acquisition.

More to follow