Nokia’s activities around establishing Nokia Siemens Networks have progressed to the point where Nokia will now start identifying which employees from its corporate support platforms will transfer to the networks business support platform. Corporate support platforms are centralized Nokia-wide organizations, such as Business Infrastructure, Human Resources, Indirect Sourcing, Nokia Research Center, Corporate Communications and several others, that support Nokia’s four business groups.

This process will have no impact on the number of employees and will be carried out in accordance with local requirements.

Following the reorganization, which is due to be completed by November 1, 2006, Nokia will have in place two separate corporate support platforms; one for its device businesses and the other for its networks business. The platform supporting Nokia’s networks business is expected to comprise approximately 2 000 employees.

Those employees assigned to the new networks business support platform will transfer to Nokia Siemens Networks once the merger is closed, which is expected to take place by January 1, 2007.

The South African mobile operator Vodacom has chosen Siemens to provide the mobile broadband infrastructure to bring 3G technology to Tanzania. As announced by Vodacom yesterday, Siemens will deliver and install the complete 3G network including HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. The order is part of a $126 million broadband technology roll-out of Vodacom in Tanzania.

Siemens Communications was already responsible for building the 3G network for Vodacom in South Africa. Based on this success and its competitiveness in terms of pricing, availability of expertise and support with future roadmaps, Siemens has now been awarded the contract by Vodacom Tanzania.

”Offering the latest 3G technology to the Tanzanian population is of strategic significance to Vodacom and we are confident that Siemens Communications is the right technology partner of choice to roll out the required infrastructure”, said Romeo Kumalo, Managing Director for Vodacom Tanzania.

“Tanzania has taken a momentous technological leap with the announcement by Vodacom Tanzania that it will introduce 3G technology to the market. As such, this development is of considerable importance since it will allow businesses and consumers in Tanzania to get access to the services that are enabled by high speed internet access”, said Christoph Caselitz, President of Mobile Networks at Siemens Communications.

This will be the second 3G network to be set up by Siemens in Southern Africa and will be the first truly high-speed mobile broadband connectivity available in Tanzania. As accelerator for 3G, HSDPA enables subscribers to benefit from download speeds of initially 1.8 megabits per second. The mobile broadband network is an economical way of bringing the internet to users in Africa. The project will open up all the advantages of speed, latency and multimedia to business users in Tanzania, and will therefore also help to drive economic progress both in the country and in the wider East African region.

Nokia and Siemens today announced the business unit and regional leadership team for Nokia Siemens Networks. These appointments will be effective when the new company starts operations, which is expected by January 1, 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals, the completion of standard closing conditions, and the agreement of a number of detailed implementation steps.

Nokia and Siemens announced previously that Simon Beresford-Wylie would assume the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Nokia Siemens Networks; Mika Vehviläinen would serve as Chief Operating Officer (COO); Karl-Christoph Caselitz would serve as Chief Market Operations Officer (CMO); and Peter Schönhofer would serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Activities relating to global supply, such as research and development, procurement, manufacturing, and delivery and logistics will report to the Chief Operating Officer; customer interface and local fulfillment, including sales and services will report to the Chief Market Operations Officer; and information technology and all finance and control activities will report to the Chief Financial Officer. Staff functions and the COO, CMO and CFO will report to the Chief Executive Officer.

“We are making excellent progress in planning for the start of operations at Nokia Siemens Networks,” said Simon Beresford-Wylie, who will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer at Nokia Siemens Networks immediately upon the closing of the merger. “We have drawn from the best people at both Nokia and Siemens to create a strong, customer-focused leadership team and I am proud to join with them in the new company.” Beresford-Wylie is currently Executive Vice President and General Manager of Networks at Nokia.

The business units of Nokia Siemens Networks will be global organizations with management and personnel distributed in many countries, including both Finland and Germany. Stephan Scholz, currently Senior Vice President and Head of Carrier Development in Siemens Communications, will lead the Research, Technology and Platforms organization, focusing on research, technology and cross-business unit synergies including common platforms. Scholz will report to Vehviläinen. Business unit leaders for Nokia Siemens Networks will be:

- Jose Costa e Silva, who will lead the Services business unit. Costa e Silva, currently Senior Vice President and Head of Europe and Americas at Mobile Networks in Siemens Communications, will report to Caselitz. Costa e Silva will be based in Germany.
- Ari Lehtoranta, who will lead the Radio Access business unit. Lehtoranta, currently Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Radio business at Nokia, will report to Vehviläinen. Lehtoranta will be based in Finland.
- Christian Unterberger, who will lead the Service Core and Applications business unit. Unterberger, currently President Fixed Networks at Siemens Communications, will report to Vehviläinen. Unterberger will be based in Germany.
- Christian Fredrikson, who will lead the Operation Support Systems business unit. Fredrikson, currently General Manager of the Core Networks business at Nokia, will report to Vehviläinen. Fredrikson will be based in Finland.
- Martin Lüst, who will lead the Broadband Access business unit. Lüst, currently President, Fixed Networks Access at Siemens Communications, will report to Vehviläinen. Lüst will be based in Germany.
- Bernd Schumacher, who will lead the IP Networking and Transport business unit. Schumacher, currently President, Siemens Optical Networks at Siemens Communications, will report to Vehviläinen. Schumacher will be based in Germany.

The regional organization for Nokia Siemens Networks will report to Caselitz. Its leaders will be:

- Mark Louison, who will lead the North American region. Louison is currently Senior Vice President of North America for Nokia Networks.
- Fernando Terni, who will lead the Latin American region. Terni is currently Senior Vice President of Latin America for Nokia Networks.
- Zhiqiang Zhang, who will lead the China region. Zhang is currently General Manager of Siemens Communications in China. David Ho, currently Senior Vice President of China for Nokia Networks, will serve as Chairman of Nokia Siemens Networks in China.
- JГјrgen Bill, who will lead the Western and Southern Europe region. Bill is currently Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific for Mobile Networks in Siemens Communications.
- Kai Uebach, who will lead the Northern Europe region. Uebach is currently President of the EMEA Region for Mobile Networks in Siemens Communications.
- Jan Cron, who will lead the Middle East and Africa region. Cron is currently Vice President and General Manager of the Middle East Region in Mobile Networks for Siemens Communications.
- Rajeev Suri who will lead the Asia Pacific region. Suri is currently Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific for Nokia Networks.

The appointments announced today become effective immediately upon the closing of the merger. When the transaction closes, Nokia Siemens Networks will be a global communications leader with strong positions in important growth segments of fixed and mobile network infrastructure and services. It will be positioned to lead the development and implementation of revenue-generating and cost-saving products and services via its scale and global reach. The combined company will have a world-class fixed-mobile convergence capability, a complementary global base of customers, a deep presence in both developed and emerging markets, and one of the industry’s largest and most experienced service organizations.