Former NSN CEO Simon Beresford-Wylie is back in the wireless networks business, advising a mobile infrastructure player on how to grow globally.

Samsung Corp. has appointed Beresford-Wylie as a global executive advisor for its network business. Simon's role will involve "planning and executing the globalisation strategy of Samsung's mobile network business."

Heavy Reading senior analyst Patrick Donegan says that Beresford-Wylie's "good leadership skills" will be helpful as Samsung attempts to expand its mobile equipment business. The unit has already developed some bridgeheads in Europe -- such as Three UK in the UK -- as well as inking deals with Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) in the US and Reliance Communications Ltd. in India.

"Simon is an extremely able guy," Donegan says. "He's an excellent appointment for them as they seek to grow market share."

One of the areas where Samsung could grow might be with its current partner Sprint. The third-ranked US operator is already using Samsung for its 3G and 4G Network Vision upgrade program.

Sprint has committed to deploy LTE TDD across the former Clearwire 2.6GHz in the US. As part of the SoftBank Corp. merger agreement, Sprint agreed to not use the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. gear that Clearwire had been deploying. (See Sprint, Softbank: No Huawei in Our Network.)

Sprint, however, hasn't yet announced its suppliers for the new network. Samsung, though, looks like a strong contender to grab at least slice of Sprint's hot TDD pie. (See Sprint's LTE TDD Future to Boost Current Vendors.)

Interestingly, Beresford-Wylie's former employer, Nokia Networks (formerly Nokia Siemens Networks), actually identified Samsung as a growing competitive threat on the network side as far back as 2012. Beresford-Wylie was CEO of the infrastructure business from its inception in 2007 until his departure in September 2009 (See Nokia Siemens Replaces Its CEO.)

The advisory role with Samsung is not a full-time job, though, as Beresford-Wylie is still CEO of Digital Mobile Spectrum Ltd., the mobile operator-funded organization that is helping address the interference issues that 4G services at 800 MHz could cause to TV signals in the UK.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading