• Nokia's acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent gives the company a much stronger market share in the communications infrastructure, software, and services provider market. However, for success, Nokia must complete the acquisition and be able to carry out a very rapid portfolio rationalization, or it may suffer the worst consequences of its past mergers.
• Nokia Networks gains access to key Tier 1 customers in the United States, which it previously lacked, as well as customers in China through Alcatel-Lucent's subsidiary Shanghai Bell. Asia and Africa are markets still in the very early stages of 4G planning, and these markets present opportunities for Nokia Networks to gain market share from its closest competitors, Ericsson and Huawei Technologies.
• Nokia Networks acquires a core product portfolio from Alcatel-Lucent, including IP transport network, optical technology, dedicated network analytics, and wireless technology assets. This should enable the combined company to compete more effectively with Ericsson and Huawei as more operators, particularly large Tier 1 carriers, move toward Fixed-Mobile Convergence.
• Fixed broadband is a resurgent area now and will continue to grow, with related connected home and FMC opportunities. Therefore, a strong position in this area will be key for Nokia Networks to position itself at the top, ahead of its closest competitors.
• Nokia Networks has also completed a divestment and restructuring round to focus on its core strength in mobile broadband. The acquisition comes at an opportune time to combine portfolios, following further streamlining of its mobile product line.
• The acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent also provides Nokia with an OSS and Nuage Networks portfolio, offering WAN-SDN solutions and access to a broader range of customers. But this acquisition doesn't provide it with products to address the BSS space.
• The combined company will have a strong portfolio that can meet the needs of CSPs, dedicated to optimizing and monetizing their networks and advancing toward virtualization and the digital economy in the long term. However, how Alcatel-Lucent's assets are integrated will be key to success in this area.
• The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2016, but it will take much longer for the portfolio rationalization to have an effect on the market. In the meantime, this will create a slowdown in infrastructure offerings and could result in an advantage for competitors.
Cambium Networks and EZVIZ collaborate on wireless video surveillance
Cambium Networks and EZVIZ have formalized a strategic agreement aimed at boosting advanced wireless video surveillance services in the residential and micro SME market, offering new business opportunities to Wireless Internet Services Providers (WISPs).
