Nokia has announced that its mobile networks business group will be split into two units. The company also announced that its President, Samih Elhage, who held the post since end-2015, will step down.
The vendor said with the integration of Alcatel-Lucent complete, Elhage “decided to pursue new opportunities”. He will continue in the role until 1 April 2017, and will remain as an advisor to the company until 31 May.
Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri said Elhage was one of the “driving forces” behind the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent and its fast and successful integration, adding: “He has been a close friend and advisor through times both good and bad, and I fully support his desire for a change.”
The company announced its mobile networks business group will be split into “two distinct, but closely linked, organisations” – one focused on products and solutions called Mobile Networks, and the other on services named Global Services.
Marc Rouanne, currently chief innovation and operating officer, will become president of the mobile networks business group, responsible for products and solutions including 4G, 5G and small cells. Igor Leprince, the current EVP of Global Services, will become the division’s president. All changes are effective from 1 April.
“These changes are designed to accelerate the execution of our strategy,” said Suri. “They will strengthen our ability to deliver strong financial performance, drive growth in services, meet changing customer demands in mobile networks, achieve our cost saving and ongoing transformation goals, and enable strategic innovation across our networks business.”
Suri said Nokia ended 2016 having shifted from being mobile focused to covering a range of fixed, mobile and software sectors.
