Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson AB's decision to take over much smaller Redback Networks for $2.1 billion in cash earlier this week raised questions about the future of Ericsson's local shop -- a 500-person mainly research and development hamlet in Marshall.

The Silicon Valley-based Redback possesses technology that Ericsson needs to rival competitors such as Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems to provide gear for companies racing to bring Internet, television and phone services to a growing number of global consumers.

The Marshall operation's strength is in high-speed networking switches used primarily by government and niche customers while the industry continues to move toward the Internet-protocol-based technology.

The office, the remants of the former Fore Systems that was acquired in 1999 for $4.5 billion by Marconi PLC, fell into Ericsson's hands after the Swedish giant bought the British telecom equipment firm for $2.1 billion last year.

After the Redback deal was announced, Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric Svanberg heralded Redback's strengths, saying it accelerated the firm's efforts to be a leader in Internet-based infrastructure.

But a local official dismissed concerns that the Redback deal, which won't close until early February, would adversely affect the local operation, where it is business -- and hiring -- as usual. The Marshall facility has picked up about two dozen employees this year, said spokeswoman Colleen Rosander, and has plans to hire about another 30. Most of those slots will be in engineering, she said.