After Nokia Siemens Networks presented its bid, Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM complained it was effectively shut out of the auction process, and called on the federal government to review the sale. On July 20, RIM stated in a press release "the loss of Canadian ownership of Nortel's CDMA and Long Term Evolution businesses may significantly, adversely affect national interests, with potential national security implications ...."

But Nortel officials testified Friday the LTE patents will not be transferred to Ericsson. Instead, Ericsson would get the right to use the technology in exchange for paying Nortel licensing fees.

Lazaridis said RIM "came very close to completing" discussions to buy LTE patents before January.

"We were surprise by the bankruptcy announcement" but continued working with Nortel and "expanded the scope" of the purchase, he said.

But the stalking horse agreement resulting from Nokia Siemens' offer only included rights to licence LTE patents, not to acquire them. This, Lazaridis said, would not have been a good deal for RIM because it wanted to acquire the LTE patents.