According to reports, Microsoft muscled out four other companies to acquire the addresses for about $11.25 apiece, a slight markup above typical domain-name prices of $10 each.
The deal is subject to court approval, with an April 4 deadline for objections.
The addresses are based upon IPv4 technology, which is a unique identifier that Internet servers use to mark each address on the web.
Because available IPv4 space ran out early this year as mobile phones and other technology gobbled up available space, companies worldwide interested in owning pieces of the web are now beginning the costly process of upgrading to the more advanced and roomier IPv6 protocol.
Picking up Nortel's IPv4 addresses allowed Microsoft to obtain hundreds of thousands of unique identifiers without the need of an upgrade, likely saving the Washington-based firm money in the long term.
