In a recent article, there is evidence that China may have been responsible for the downfall of Nortel as a global leader in the telecom industry.
At one time, Nortel accounted for more than a third of the total valuation of all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Echange. Almost everyone in Ontario knew someone who worked for Nortel, emplying over 94000 people worldwide.
It was 2009 when Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada, resulting in the company being forced to liquidate assets including patents.
In 2004, Nortel discovered that hackers they believed to be in China had access to documents and communications between executives for more thaan a decade before the collapse. The fall of Nortel coincided with the rise of Huawei.
The article raises legitimate concerns over the role that China's Huawei has in the 5G rollout considering that the majority of internet and cellular communications such networks will carry on a global scale.
Was China responsible for the decline of the company or was it simply a case of greed and mismanagement by the executives at the company?