Marc Rouanne takes over from Ari Lehtoranta
Nokia Siemens Networks has made a change at the top of its Radio Access Business Unit, appointing ex-Alcatel and Alcatel-Lucent man Marc Rouanne to head up the unit. Rouanne replaces Ari Lehtoranta who is said to be "taking leave of access for personal reasons."
Rouanne is an experienced hand in this field, and is an articulte and fluent communicator. Most recently he was in charge of Alcatel-Lucent's Convergence Business Group. Prior to this, he was in charge of Alcatel’s Mobile Communications activities.
With his experience of the Alcatel-Lucent merger, where product lines had to be merged and prioritised, he will be aware of the ongoing processes within NSN.
NSN CEO Simon Beresford Wylie confirmed recently that sales levels of mobile networking equipment are expected to remain flat or at low growth levels through 2008. Rouanne's challenge will be to make sure the portfolio is in place to meet the challenges of the emerging markets, as well as ensuring NSN protects its positions as LTE decisions are made through 2009.