Nokia Siemens Networks To Axe 150 UK Jobs

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is planning to shed 150 UK jobs in the WiMAX and GSM businesses acquired from Motorola, blaming delays in completing the acquisition.

The losses will come from the research staff and represent around a third of the total research staff on site. the 90-day consultation process with those affected will conclude in October, the BBC reports.

In June, NSN announced plans to reduce global headcount by 1500.

“The reduction reflects lower demand for these products and services caused by the delay in closing the acquisition. Although the company aims to redeploy employees to higher growth areas, some redundancies are planned,” the firm said in its initial statement.

“The employees affected by the redeployment and redundancies are in the research and development, supply chain, sales and service organisations related to the WiMax and GSM business acquired from Motorola Solutions.” The headcount reduction is not expected to be completed till June 2102, according to a Nokia Siemens statement received by eWEEK Europe.

NSN finally acquired Motorola’s wireless assets earlier this after Huawei tried to block the deal with a lawsuit.

Stalling

The Chinese telecoms firm had existing relationships with Motorola and feared that confidential information regarding its technology would be transferred to rival Nokia during the deal.

A US court allowed the deal to go through only if Motorola stuck to its obligations regarding the confidentiality of Huawei’s “trade secrets and intellectual property”.

The incorporation of Motorola’s assets into Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens AG, made NSN the third-ranked wireless infrastructure vendor in the United States, and it will inherit relationships with dozens of operators.

NSN announced in January that it had signed a three year modernisation contract to upgrade O2′s mobile network in the south of England.

The work to update O2’s radio network and expand capacity will mean that NSN provides around two-thirds of O2’s 3G network in the region.