MUNICH—Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG named the future executive team of their recently announced joint venture, which will combine Nokia’s Networks Business Group with Siemens’ Communications division.
The companies previously said that Simon Beresford-Wylie, executive vice president and general manager of Nokia Networks, is set to serve as chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks; Peter Schonhofer, currently a member of Siemens’ executive board, will take on chief financial officer duties and will oversee information technology and intellectual property rights.
The companies expanded the JV’s planned executive team with the announcement that Mika Vehviläinen will serve as chief operating officer. Vehviläinen will oversee divisions including Radio Access, Operation Support Systems, Service Core and Applications, IP Networking and Transport, as well as Broadband Access. In addition, he will oversee Operations (sourcing, manufacturing and logistics) and the Technology Platforms and Quality organization. Currently, Vehviläinen is senior vice president and general manager of Core Networks at Nokia.
A Siemens executive, Karl-Christoph Caselitz, will serve as the JV’s chief market operations officer, overseeing regional operations, management of global accounts, and marketing and sales management. He will also manage the Services business unit of Nokia Siemens Networks. Caselitz is currently president of Mobile Networks at Siemens.
The joint venture is expected to begin operations by Jan. 1, 2007, and will be headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, but it will have regional headquarters in Munich, Germany, where three of five of its future divisions will be based, the companies said.
In other executive news, Nortel Networks Ltd. announced it selected former Broadcom Corp. executive John Roese as its new chief technology officer.
Nortel said Roese will direct its research and development strategy and execution, working closely with Nortel’s chief strategist on emerging technologies, market opportunities and strategic partnerships.
“Nortel has a rich and powerful heritage in innovation,” said Mike Zafirovski, CEO of Nortel. “As CTO, John will represent the heart and soul of that innovation engine and become the spiritual leader for our more than 12,000 engineers and developers.”
