Ericsson would consider to acquire NSN assets incase of sale

Ericsson CFO Jan Frykhammar revealed to Total Telecom this week that the company would consider acquiring assets from rival Nokia Siemens Networks – provided they were up for sale.

"If they put out assets for sale and there comes official processes, I think our responsibility... is – if we are invited to have a look – [to] look at them," he said on the sidelines of Ericsson's fourth quarter results presentation on Wednesday.

"If we see that an asset can add value to our company we consider acquiring it," he continued, citing recent examples including Ericsson's $1.15 billion purchase of Telcordia in June 2011 and its participation in the consortium that bought Nortel's patent portfolio a month later for $4.5 billion.

A GigaOM report on Wednesday also linked the Swedish kit vendor with a move for Canadian WiFi specialist BelAir networks.

However, Frykhammar insisted Ericsson is not specifically planning to buy parts of NSN.

"As a leadership team we do not speculate on consolidation," he said. "If assets are available we look at them; whether we go and acquire assets, that's completely different."

Nokia Siemens Networks in November announced plans to refocus the business entirely on mobile broadband and divest or manage for value any assets that fall outside that remit. The move will see 17,000 jobs cut in a bid to reduce costs by €1 billion.

So far NSN has offloaded its WiMAX business to Skyview Capital-owned NewNet Communication Technologies, and its fixed broadband access division to network specialist Adtran for undisclosed fees.


(C) Total Telecom

NSN will be Managed Services partner of Bharti Airtel in India's eight circles

Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile network operator in India by subscribers, announced it has extended its managed services deal with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Through the five-year deal, NSN will act as a managed services partner for Bharti in eight of India's major telecom circles.

NSN will be using a global service delivery model and will offer network optimization, operations and maintenance services. Services will be delivered remotely through NSN's Global Network Solutions Center (GNSC) in Noida, India. The solutions specifically support NSN's installed base of mobile broadband equipment for Bharti Airtel, which has helped the operator realize a reduced carbon footprint and optimal cost of ownership. NSN's products and services have also given Bharti Airtel improved network and service performance.

“The data story in the country has just begun and we will witness increasing complexity due to multiplicity of network layers specifically when serving data,” said Sanjay Kapoor, CEO of Bharti Airtel’s India and South Asia unit. “It is imperative for any service provider to have a complete end-to-end view to manage voice and data services. This initiative is in line with our strategy to create ubiquitous networks for offering enriched customer experience. Nokia Siemens Networks has been our long standing managed services partner and we are happy to continue our association further.”

“Bharti Airtel was looking for a single managed services partner with multi-vendor capabilities, and Nokia Siemens Networks meets all the requirements perfectly,” added Ashish Chowdhary, head of customer operations Asia and Middle East at Nokia Siemens Networks. “This deal will allow Bharti to simplify processes and improve end-to-end network and service performance. More importantly, stringent key performance indicators ensure we’re helping Bharti Airtel deliver an enhanced subscriber experience.”

 (C) MSP NEWS