Nokia Siemens to shed 17,000 staff & focus on mobile broadband

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 24 November 2011 08:22

IT Industry - Strategy

Nokia Siemens Networks has announced plans to shed 23 percent of its global workforce - some 17,000 people - and focus on end-to-end network infrastructure for mobile broadband services.

The company has launched what it say is "an extensive global restructuring program," designed to significantly reduce operating expense and production overheads. It has not revealed exactly which businesses it will exit. However,Light Reading in the US reproduced an internal slide detailing what the company described as its 'current focus areas' and in which it claimed to be 'winning'.

Nokia Siemens; CEO, Rajiv Suri, said: "We believe that the future of our industry is in mobile broadband and services - and we aim to be an undisputed leader in these areas. At the same time, we need to take the necessary steps to maintain long term competitiveness and improve profitability in a challenging telecommunications market."

He added: "Our goal is to provide the world's most efficient mobile networks, the intelligence to maximise the value of those networks, and the services capability to make it all work seamlessly. Despite the need to restructure parts of our company, our commitment to research and development remains unchanged, with investment in mobile broadband expected to increase over the coming years."

(In August Nokia Siemens published a white paper '2020: Beyond 4G Radio Evolution for the Gigabit Experience' mapping out how it expects mobile technology to evolve over the next decade to enable mobile networks to have 1000 times the capacity they have today, at a cost per bit delivered that is one thousandth of the present cost.)

The company says it aims to shave EUR 1 billion from its operating expenses and production overheads by the end of 2013, compared to the end of 2011, largely from "organisational streamlining". However it says it will also target real estate, information technology, product and service procurement costs, overall general and administrative expenses, and significantly reduce the number suppliers in its drive to further lower costs and improve quality.
 
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