Nokia Siemens offloads fibre optics unit

Monster vendor Nokia Siemens Networks said Wednesday it has reached an agreement to sell off its Open Transport Network (OTN) unit, which specialises in fibre optic communications.

Belgian investment company GIMV, will take over majority control of the OTN division and spin it off as a separate company during the second quarter. Around 80 NSN employees will be affected.

Financial details have not been disclosed.

The move is part of NSN’s strategic refocus on its core businesses, as the vendor aims to realise Eur2bn annually in synergy savings by the end of 2008.

At a recent NSN event, chief executive Simon Beresford-Wylie, said that the company is being hard nosed about its portfolio. “If we can’t be number one or a strong number two in a market then we will cast a critical eye on that part of the portfolio,” he said. Evidently, the OTN unit, which NSN inherited from Siemens, is one of those parts of the portfolio.