Aussie to replace Spradley at Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks said Sue Spradley, head of its North America region, will step down from the company, and will be replaced by Rick Corker, who runs the infrastructure provider’s Asia-Pacific region. The change is to be effective April 15.
No word yet on where Spradley is headed, but because she will remain a non-executive advisor to Nokia Siemens Networks and a member of the company’s external advisory board, she likely isn’t going to a direct competitor any time soon.
Spradley has led NSN since Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Siemens AG (SI) merged their telecom business in 2007. While the company is the No. 2 player worldwide among wireless operators, No. 2 in services and No. 3 among wireline operators, and said it serves more than 1.5 billion subscribers, it has struggled to gain traction in the North American market, where neither company brought a significant installed customer base to the joint venture. The company scored big with a $7 billion deal with LightSquared and manages wireline company Embarq’s operations, but did not garner lucrative LTE contracts with Verizon Wireless or AT&T Mobility, despite being the self-proclaimed LTE leader, having secured 20 commercial LTE contracts.
As such, NSN announced plans in July 2010 for a $1.2 billion acquisition of Motorola Inc.’s wireless business in an effort to forge better relationships in the United States and Japan, singling out operators Clearwire Corp., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless, as well as China Mobile and KDDI Corp., according to Nokia’s 2010 financial report.
Corker, an Australian citizen, has delivered strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region, including the key countries of Korea and Japan, according to NSN. He will be based in Dallas in his new position.
The wireless infrastructure space has been tumultuous in recent years but seems to be rebounding as operators roll out advanced-generation networks. Nevertheless, price pressures continue. Nokia and Siemens are said to be in a six-year tie-up that would take the joint venture through January 2013. In its 2010 financial statement, Nokia said NSN has received inquiries from private-equity firms to invest in the company.
Nokia and Siemens have both written down the value of their holdings in the firm over the years and Siemens has reportedly been looking for an exit since that first year of operations.