Mentioning the unmentionable

We're not even supposed to talk about the possibility of Cisco Systems acquiring Nokia. It's such a bad and ridiculous notion that we're not even supposed to be thinking about it. Or thinking about thinking about it. Even Cisco chief John Chambers isn't talking about it, though he did manage to dismiss the rumor without, in fact, mentioning it.

Usually, just because it's good sport, I like to try to think of reasons to do the things that most people believe should, under no circumstances, be done:

You could argue that Cisco could buy Nokia for the enterprise synergies that could be had as Cisco's strength in Wi-Fi and Nokia's strength in mobile are beginning to converge at the enterprise doorstep. You could argue that with the world going wireless, Cisco should buy Nokia's infrastructure business, or someone's infrastructure business, just to take advantage of the potential network operator business. You could argue that bringing Nokia in-house would make Cisco a more attractive global vendor for international wireless carriers and enterprises. You could argue that Cisco and Nokia could merge the former's IP experience with the latter's wireless knowledge to create an IMS powerhouse.

Yet, the unescapable conclusion is that none of these things really requires the sticky, messy formalities of an acquisition. In most of these cases, the simple, noncommittal but well-meaning terms of a partnership would do the trick. There's also one other thing: Acquiring Nokia would bring Cisco firmly into the wireless wide area network, something which, by Cisco's own admission last last year, it doesn't want to do on a grand scale.

E-mail me at doshea@primediabusiness.com.