An unwavering customer focus

Motorola’s networks business had been preparing to forge a path as an independent entity prior to the announcement by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in the middle of July that the latter was to acquire the majority of Motorola’s wireless networks infrastructure assets. In one of his last interviews prior to the announcement, Ali Amer, Motorola Networks’ vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa told Comm. why the business remained in a strong position

Ali Amer, Motorola Networks’ vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa

Motorola Networks’ game plan was to remain focussed on the areas of business in which it exceeds at; continuing to build deeper and stronger relationships with the customers it has worked with in the past. Even after the announcement of NSN’s acquisition, that appears to still remain a sound strategy for Motorola to follow within the NSN setup given the supplier has developed strong market positions in technologies including WiMAX and LTE.

Motorola enjoys some of the best-in-class solutions and equipment in certain mobile and wireless technologies, with Amer describing the company’s position in LTE as strong; and as leadership in WiMAX, with the technology gaining more traction in Europe and Africa. Amer describes the 2G side of the business as continuing to innovate and remain pertinent.

“We have three core assets within our organisation,” Amer said. “Leadership in technology and innovation; anticipation; and human capital. Many of our customers are in a transitional phase at the moment and so relationships with their vendors have to be that much closer with respect to technology and CAPEX choices.”

Amer describes the global economic crisis as having been a process that led many organisations, and not just those in the telecom sector, to look to review their priorities as well as their cost bases; ensuring that a business case exists prior to undertaking upgrades and investments.

“Customers worldwide became a little more cautious, and that is not necessarily a bad thing,” Amer asserted. “In the Middle East region, for example, where Motorola has over 40 years experience, we have been engaged with helping operators making decisions over 4G investments,” he added.

At the start of the year Motorola signed a contract with Zain Saudi Arabia to deploy the first LTE network in the kingdom, with the vendor deploying the largest LTE network for the operator in Riyadh. Motorola was also contracted to provide an end-to-end solution including radio access network (RAN), evolved packet core (EPC), devices, and optimisation and integration services.

“We are proud to be a part of Zain’s plans in such a significant market,” commented Amer. “We forecast a full commercial launch in the region within the 2011 timeframe, and we are thrilled to be considered a technology partner of choice,” he added.

Demand for mobile broadband is a universal theme across global telecom markets and upgrading and optimising networks to cope with this surge in demand is likely to drive investment in networks for some time to come. Looking to leverage its well-established partnerships, Motorola’s networks business, as part of NSN’s operations going forward, believes its relevance remains as pertinent as it would have done as a standalone organisation, and the acquirer of the businesses appears to share the same view.

“This is an exciting acquisition that I believe has significant benefits for customers, employees and our shareholders,” said Rajeev Suri, CEO of NSN. “NSN will see the benefits of a deal that is expected to enhance profitability and cash-flow and to have significant upside potential.”

“Motorola is very proud of the operational and financial performance of our Networks business and its employees, who will now become a valuable addition to NSN,” commented Greg Brown, co-CEO of Motorola. “We are excited to have reached this agreement to combine our Networks team with such an industry leader.”