Motorola Mobility moved a "small number" field-support engineers to longtime partner Telecommunications Support Services last month, but Motorola said the plan was well under way before Google's takeover.
Motorola's employee transfer was reported Thursday by Light Reading.
The engineers who joined TSS support "legacy" products and technologies, according to Motorola Mobility global communications director Jeanne Russo. "We're retaining a significant number of field engineers for current systems integration engagements," she said.
Russo declined to say how many employees have joined TSS but said they represent a "small fraction" of Motorola's total field-support services group, which she also declined to quantify. The decision to transfer the engineers to TSS, which Motorola has worked with for more than a decade, was made before the Google acquisition, she said.
Melbourne, Fla.-based TSS had 65 employees at last count, according to Dun & Bradstreet. It lists customers including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, AT&T, Verizon, Harris, Motorola and ViaSat. Founded in 1991, TSS provides technical services for satellite, wireless, broadband and radar companies worldwide.
A TSS representative referred inquiries to Motorola.
Google had 20,293 employees in the Motorola business as of June 30. As of the end of last year, Motorola Mobility had approximately 20,500 employees, according to regulatory filings.
Google closed the $12.4 billion cash deal for Motorola Mobility, driven largely by Google's desire to obtain the latter's patents, in May. The Internet company valued Motorola's 17,000-plus patent portfolio at $5.5 billion, representing the largest component of the price tag.
