Toronto, July 24 - Sweden's Ericsson has entered the bid to acquire the next-generation wireless business of Nortel.

Toronto-based Nortel, which is selling its various divisions as part of its liquidation plan, will auction its wireless business Friday in New York.

Till now, Nokia Siemens Networks and America's MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners were the two bidders, with Canada's BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) shut out because of its refusal to sign non-disclosure agreements with Nortel.

The BlackBerry maker has said it is ready to offer $1.1 billion to Nortel for its wireless unit, much higher than Nokia Siemens's starting offer of $650 million and MatlinPatterson's $725 million.

Confirming that it is bidding for Nortel's wireless business, the Swedish telecom giant refused to say how much it is offering to Nortel.