NSN Unveils Its Kill ListNSN Unveils Its Kill List

Nokia Networks , as part of its restructuring, says it will focus on mobile broadband, services and customer experience management. (See NSN to Cut 17,000 Staff and NSN to Restructure.)

But what businesses might it exit?

Those details weren't divulged in NSN's press conference today but rather they were featured in an email from NSN CEO Rajeev Suri to the company's 74,000 employees worldwide. The email was cited by Mobile Europe, and NSN's spokesman confirmed to Light Reading that the note and its details were authentic.

Suri, in the memo, declared NSN may "exit or maintain" a wide range of businesses including "perfect voice (fixed-line VoIP), broadband access, WiMax, narrowband, carrier Ethernet, business support systems (BSS), and communications and entertainment solutions (CES)." Those businesses, Suri wrote, "will be targeted for exit (possibly through divestment) or put in maintenance mode."

NSN has already agreed to sell its microwave transport unit. (See DragonWave to Buy NSN Unit.)

"The big question is, can they really execute on a program like this while remaining a credible, reliable vendor to the operator community, especially in the fast-growing mobile broadband market?" asked Bengt Nordström, CEO of Northstream consulting firm. "Will operators believe that NSN can deliver … while they do this restructuring?"

Nordström added that NSN has been "cutting costs for five or six years. That has not been sufficient. This is more of the same, but it is a much more drastic restructuring. … The numbers speak for themselves."

— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading and Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile