Not quite? But the fact that they’ve been seeking legal advice on bankruptcy really isn’t a good sign. Nortel claims not to have any debt maturity until 2011, but with 2009 right around the corner and company financials not looking spectacular (although not bleak by todays standards) I don’t know that they’ll dig themselves out of their upcoming debt. However, they have taken a move to do so by putting in place a plan to unload their Metropolitan Ethernet division. As one of the industry leaders in Metropolitan Area Network switches (if you look at the Wikipedia page for Metro Ethernet you might notice that their gear is in the picture) Nortel hopes to bring in a few hundred million from that alone. While this doesn’t lead to solvency it is a step in the right direction. If you deal at all with Metro Networking then you’ll be very interested in the developments with Nortel over the coming months. If they do not have a plan to deal with their 2011 debt maturity issues I would expect something a bit more drastic if they are to keep the company in one piece without a buyout…