Q: To become the No 1 player, it seems there is still a way to go. How will
you manage to reach this ambitious goal?
A: First of all, it's not a long way to go. The distance separating the top
three isn't very great.
Secondly, I think one of the secret sources we have is our convergence
portfolio.
Third, and I think the most important, there is a will, a desire to win that
I can feel everywhere.
We have to keep the customer absolutely at the heart of our business. There
are only 450 and they are like precious pearls.
So, if our employee base has that fighting spirit to win, and keeps the
customer at the centre of reason of being, then we will get there and I know we
will get there.
Q: Siemens has sold its mobile phone business and now seems to be also
getting rid of its network business. Do you think there will be any change to
the future shareholding structure at Nokia-Siemens Networks?
A: As the CEO designate of Nokia-Siemens Networks I stood between the CEOs of
Nokia and Siemens on June 19 and I watched them and I heard them say that they
love this business. And I really believe they meant that.
And I think there is no exit planned (for Siemens). They both love this
business, and provided we, the leadership and the employees of this company,
deliver what we have committed to I have no reason to believe that either will
leave. I think they like it and they want to stay.
Q: In the first half of this year, China's telecom revenue growth has been
slowing down, even lower than the GDP growth. What do you think of the trend?
A: I wouldn't comment specifically on the market. We sort of gave guidance on
2006 globally that we're expecting a moderate growth and that's all I can say.
Q: Nokia and Siemens have announced there will be a 10 to 15 per cent
lay-off. How is this going to impact China?
A: We expected to find 1.5 billion euros in synergy savings. And 90 per cent
of those (savings) would likely come within the first two years and the path of
this is a 10 to 15 per cent decrease in the headcount. And that's all now part
of the planning process so I have no specific comments beyond that.
Q: We have seen a slew of mergers such as Alcatel-Lucent and
Ericsson-Marconi. And recently Alcatel also announced it would buy Nortel
Networks' 3G business. Do you believe the consolidation is going to continue as
a global trend?
A: It's hard, difficult for me to call. I have to say that at the moment I'm
now very focused on a couple of things. One is keeping our customers and two is
making this integration work. There's been a lot of this (M&As) in the last
few months and I think it's difficult to know what will happen in the future.
(China Daily 09/12/2006 page11)
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