**Pair accounts for between 20% and 30% of country’s radio network equipment**
Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia is exiting the Russian market permanently, becoming the latest western company to distance itself from the Kremlin and plan for a future in which sanctions persist.
“For us, it has been clear since the beginning of the invasion that it is not going to be possible to continue our presence in Russia,” said chief executive Pekka Lundmark. “Sanctions are getting tighter and tighter which would have made it harder and harder to operate.”
The group is the latest in a slew of companies that have made definitive moves to exit a country that is becoming increasingly toxic to associate with. However, telecoms companies are in a particularly difficult situation, given that their hasty withdrawal could deprive Russian civilians of the ability to communicate and receive information from the rest of the world.
“Western governments have highlighted concerns about three sectors: food, medicine and telecommunications,” Lundmark said. “If western companies withdraw overnight it would lead to undesired results.”
Nokia in early March suspended deliveries of networking equipment to Russia, stopped accepting any new business and moved its limited R&D activities out of the country. It will now begin removing its operations and services from Russia for good, a process that could take some time.
Nokia’s decision comes one day after Swedish rival Ericsson announced that it was “indefinitely suspending” all activities in Russia.
Both European companies account for about 20 to 30 per cent of the market for radio network equipment in Russia respectively, according to market research company Dell’Oro, with Chinese groups Huawei and ZTE making up the rest. These four companies dominate the international market for network equipment.
China sends a thank-you note to Europe, “Chinese workers thank European workers for this gift”.
2 comments
1
**Pair accounts for between 20% and 30% of country’s radio network equipment**
Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia is exiting the Russian market permanently, becoming the latest western company to distance itself from the Kremlin and plan for a future in which sanctions persist.
“For us, it has been clear since the beginning of the invasion that it is not going to be possible to continue our presence in Russia,” said chief executive Pekka Lundmark. “Sanctions are getting tighter and tighter which would have made it harder and harder to operate.”
The group is the latest in a slew of companies that have made definitive moves to exit a country that is becoming increasingly toxic to associate with. However, telecoms companies are in a particularly difficult situation, given that their hasty withdrawal could deprive Russian civilians of the ability to communicate and receive information from the rest of the world.
“Western governments have highlighted concerns about three sectors: food, medicine and telecommunications,” Lundmark said. “If western companies withdraw overnight it would lead to undesired results.”
Nokia in early March suspended deliveries of networking equipment to Russia, stopped accepting any new business and moved its limited R&D activities out of the country. It will now begin removing its operations and services from Russia for good, a process that could take some time.
Nokia’s decision comes one day after Swedish rival Ericsson announced that it was “indefinitely suspending” all activities in Russia.
Both European companies account for about 20 to 30 per cent of the market for radio network equipment in Russia respectively, according to market research company Dell’Oro, with Chinese groups Huawei and ZTE making up the rest. These four companies dominate the international market for network equipment.
China sends a thank-you note to Europe, “Chinese workers thank European workers for this gift”.
Another market that’ll never return to Europe.