Nortel’s move to reduce costs by opening facilities in lower-cost geographies took another step forward with the opening of a new “Centre of Excellence” in Istanbul, Turkey. The facility, which was part of an announcement last year that also included a new $38-million service centre into Mexico, will provide support for customers around the world, network technical support for North American customers, and network integration and technical support for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said the facility is “an important milestone in the Nortel story. This center is vital to improving customer support as we enter a new era of communications driven by the convergence of three powerful mega-trends we believe are significantly changing the industry – hyper-connectivity, communications-enabled applications and true broadband.”
Translation: If Nortel wants to lower operating costs, increase gross margins and boost profits, the company needs to leverage lower-cost places such as Turkey, Mexico and China. Last year, for example, it opened a new state-of-the-art R&D lab in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science & Technology Park. As Canada’s flagship high-tech company, a big question is how many more jobs will be moved out of Canada and the U.S., especially high-paying R&D positions.
Nortel Opens Facility in Turkey
Nortel’s move to reduce costs by opening facilities in lower-cost geographies took another step forward with the opening of a new “Centre of Excellence” in Istanbul, Turkey. The facility, which was part of an announcement last year that also included a new $38-million service centre into Mexico, will provide support for customers around the world, network technical support for North American customers, and network integration and technical support for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said the facility is “an important milestone in the Nortel story. This center is vital to improving customer support as we enter a new era of communications driven by the convergence of three powerful mega-trends we believe are significantly changing the industry – hyper-connectivity, communications-enabled applications and true broadband.”
Translation: If Nortel wants to lower operating costs, increase gross margins and boost profits, the company needs to leverage lower-cost places such as Turkey, Mexico and China. Last year, for example, it opened a new state-of-the-art R&D lab in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science & Technology Park. As Canada’s flagship high-tech company, a big question is how many more jobs will be moved out of Canada and the U.S., especially high-paying R&D positions.