Alcatel spending millions in 3G push
Published: 24 Sep 2002 09:05 BST
French communications equipment maker Alcatel is proceeding with plans to establish seven new third-generation (3G) labs in Asia-Pacific and Europe despite plans to reduce 20,000 jobs worldwide.
Called 3G Reality Centers, each facility will cost the company "millions", said John Lipp, Alcatel Asia-Pacific's director of business development for mobile Internet.
The labs in Korea, Japan, Australia, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands are slated for launch by mid-2003, Lipp said in an email interview. The company already operates five such centres in Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Portugal and Sweden.
Equipped with live 3G networks and engineering expertise from Alcatel, the centers will provide developers an environment to create and try General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and 3G applications, primarily aimed at communications, entertainment and business segments.
It is Alcatel's ultimate goal to attract mobile phone operators to these labs, where its products as well as upcoming GPRS and 3G services will be showcased. Alcatel's offerings range from routers, switches and base stations to mobile payment and multimedia messaging software.
"Of course we hope to generate positive energy around our infrastructure and applications," Lipp said, declining to reveal sales projections.
Despite slashing massive numbers of jobs, Alcatel's Asia-Pacific spokesperson Lim Seng Jin reasoned that the firm is taking a "long-term view" with regard to its 3G investments.
"Our network of 3G centres is necessary as we are confident that mobile broadband will be a key driver of telecommunications services in the future," Lim told CNETAsia.
Friday's job reduction announcement comes on top of 30,000 job cuts previously planned for 2001 and 2002. By the end of 2003, Alcatel's global workforce is expected to drop to 60,000 people, from 113,000 at the end of 2000, Reuters reported.
Lim declined to reveal the number of workers who will lose their jobs in Asia-Pacific, saying: "We have always been conservative in our staff numbers, especially in Asia-Pacific, and we will continue to staff our operations in proportion to the size of the market we address."
Including employees from Alcatel Shanghai Bell, a joint venture with Chinese telco Shanghai Bell, the French communications equipment maker has 10,000 people on its payroll in Asia-Pacific.
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