The biggest handset maker, the Finish company Nokia, may become Cisco's property, according to the British news paper Sunday Business.

The paper, which did not reveal the source of its information, said U.S.-based Cisco had traditionally concentrated on acquisitions of niche technology players, but its Chief Executive John Chambers is believed to be interested in merging with a wireless infrastructure company.

Last week, Nokia's Board of Directors has appointed Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, 52, President and Chief Operating Officer effective October 1, 2005, and President and Chief Executive Officer from June 1, 2006. Mr. Kallasvuo joined Nokia in 1980 and currently heads the Mobile Phones business group. Prior to this he worked as the company's Chief Financial Officer. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jorma Ollila, 54, continues after June 1, 2006 as Non-Executive Chairman.

According to a Gartner report, the mobile phones sales will exceed one billion in 2009. In 2005, mobile phone sales will reach 779 million units, a 16 percent increase compared to 2004.

Nokia, which is still number one, is facing an increasing competition from companies such as Motorola and Samsung.

Last year, Motorola regained second position from Samsung with higher-than-expected growth. Motorola's market share increased to 16.3% in the three months through December.

Motorola's success is due to RAZR V3, which has boosted the sales in Europe and North America. Another growth factor for Motorola is the sales model for the emerging markets as Asia and Latin America, based on aggressive prices. Samsung has gained the leadership in the segment of multi-mega pixel camera phones and its share in the global market is 12.2%.

Cisco, the largest maker of Internet equipment, is worth around $123 billion, while Nokia's market value is around $71 billion.

Obviously, neither Cisco nor Nokia officials commented this rumor.