Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Motorola today jointly announced that the companies have entered into an agreement under which NSN will acquire the majority of Motorola’s wireless network infrastructure assets for US $1.2 billion in cash. The companies expect to complete closing activities by the end of 2010.

As part of the transaction, NSN expects to gain incumbent relationships with more than 50 operators and to strengthen its position with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

NSN expects that based on revenue, with the addition of the Motorola wireless network infrastructure business, it will become the #3 wireless infrastructure vendor in the United States, the #1 foreign wireless vendor in Japan, and strengthen its current #2 position in the global infrastructure segment.

“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.”

Motorola’s networks infrastructure business extends to GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE.

Around 7,500 employees are expected to transfer to NSN from Motorola’s wireless network infrastructure business when the transaction closes, including large R&D sites in the US, China and India. Motorola retains the iDEN business, substantially all the patents related to its wireless network infrastructure business and other selected assets.

NSN’s Suri, who was appointed CEO last September, says the acquisition will enhance profitability and cash-flow, as well as have significant upside potential

NSN and Motorola also are exploring a global relationship in the public safety arena. This relationship would combine Motorola’s leadership in providing solutions to public safety organisations with Nokia Siemens Networks’ commercial LTE solutions.

Just last month, Bruce Brda, Motorola’s senior vice president and general manager of Home & Networks Mobility at Motorola told Comm. that as a standalone business, Motorola’s network business generated revenues amounting to US$4.9 billion in 2009, making it amongst the smaller members of the highly competitive global telecom infrastructure suppliers’ club.

Smaller annual revenues meant smaller amounts that could be invested in R&D, meant less opportunity to take leadership positions in new technologies and developments, meant being faced with the potential of a shrinking market share. Brda said he was aware of such constraints but believed Motorola’s strategy to focus on the customers it already services, and focus on technologies in which it already enjoyed strong positions in, would be the correct one to assume in its post-separation life.

‘Explosive’ is a word that best describes the growth of Africa’s mobile ecosystem. Demand for mobile broadband, with 400,000 new HSPA connections added every month, as well as competition among large, established operators and a wave of new market entrants, has created one of the most competitive markets in the world. Africa truly is a region burgeoning with opportunities for those who look beyond their network’s borders.

Eugene Bergen Henegouwen is Syniverse’s executive vice president, EMEA

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It is no secret: we are operating in turbulent markets, and the telecom sector has shown resilience in 2009, despite being not totally immune to the overall economic conditions as initially hoped. Compared to other industries, the sector has performed much better and the rate of growth in the Middle East continues to outstrip most regions in the world. Much of this resilience comes from the fact that telecom services are increasingly being seen as essential purchases. Fixed voice and broadband access services are perceived as an indispensable staple in people’s lives.

This article was contributed by Zoran Vasiljev, partner at Value Partners

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With the markets suddenly awash with people, is it easier or actually more difficult to hire true talent in recessionary times?  

The Chinese character for crisis is the same as the one for chaos – and includes two elements – one meaning ‘danger’ and the other ‘opportunity’. For the savvy organisation, the current economic downturn has created a unique opportunity to attract high level key personnel, the likes of which would not otherwise have been available in a more buoyant market.

Craig Coverman believes now is definitely a good time for organisations to ask themselves if they can really offer candidates compelling reasons to join them

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Qatar is on the verge of market entry by Vodafone, one of the world’s leading mobile players. Qtel, the incumbent monopoly, will face a formidable challenger in Vodafone. Aglobal presence and vast product and services innovation experience across developed and emerging markets are just some of the advantages Vodafone can leverage in its market entry strategy. Vodafone has the capacity to deliver targeted value propositions to the very diverse customer segments found in Qatar, from the labour force to the local large enterprises and branches of multinational firms.

Given the near saturated mobile market and the well-serviced fixed-line arena, Vodafone will likely target the incumbent’s existing customer base to capture market share. The challenge for Qtel is to retain the high value segments, thereby allowing the inevitable churn to be within the lower segments. The enterprise segment is one of the key contributors to revenue and profitability for Qtel’s domestic operations. In any customer retention effort by Qtel, these customers should rank at the very top of the priority list.

Should Qtel be worried about churn in the enterprise segment?

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