Nokia profit up despite pandemic as new CEO takes over

HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia has reported better than expected second-quarter earnings on the back of improved margins for telecoms equipment and software despite the coronavirus crisis causing a substantial drop in revenue.

The Espoo, Finland-based maker of new-generation 5G mobile and other networks said Friday that its net profit for the April-June period was up 22% at 316 million euros ($376 million). Sales were down 11% at 5.1 billion euros.

CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement that the majority of the drop in revenue was “the result of COVID-19 as well as a sharp decline in China based on the prudent approach we have taken in that market.”

Nokia estimated that the COVID-19 crisis hurt its net sales by about 300 million euros in the second quarter and about 500 million euros in the first half of the year.

“We expect that the majority of sales missed in the (second) quarter due to COVID-19 will shift to future periods,” Suri said.

Though the company warned it was expecting to lose some market this year, it gave an upbeat outlook for its main network business and lifted its profit and cash flow guidance for full year 2020.

Suri said that Nokia has now concluded 83 commercial deals for 5G, the new network technology that allows ultra-fast downloading speeds among other things. Along with China’s Huawei and Sweden’s Ericsson, Nokia is one of the three main providers of 5G networks. Huawei is at the center of a U.S.-China dispute over technology, with the Trump administration saying it can help the Chinese government spy on people, a claim the company denies.

Friday marked the last day as a CEO for Suri, a Nokia veteran with 25 years in service and the head of the company since 2014, as his appointed successor Pekka Lundmark takes over on Aug. 1.

Lundmark, 56, is the former CEO of the Finnish energy group Fortum and worked at Nokia between 1990 and 2000.

In May, Sari Baldauf was named as the company’s new chair. Baldauf headed Nokia’s network business from 1998 until 2005 and Lundmark was her team colleague in the 1990s.

Nokia has played catch up with Huawei and Ericsson in the 5G business, which has become increasingly politicized amid the U.S.-China rift, and industry observers say one of Lundmark’s immediate priorities is to review the company’s strategies.

Suri’s tenure was dominated by Nokia’s 15.6 billion-euro acquisition of the French telecoms group Alcatel-Lucent in 2016. Analysts say that integrating the company has taken more time than expected, causing Nokia to get a late start in the 5G race, which took off in 2018.

In February, U.S. Attorney General William Barr suggested the U.S. government should, either directly or through a U.S. company, take a stake in Nokia or Ericsson to stay ahead in the 5G and technological battle with Huawei and China.

AP

Smart cell site restored at Tacloban airport

MANILA, Philippines — Smart Communications fired up its cell site at the Tacloban airport Tuesday noon in a bid to support various emergency relief operations for residents affected by monster typhoon “Yolanda.”

“It’s not possible to restore all the facilities at the same time. So the first priority is to support emergency relief agencies,” Ramon Isberto, PLDT and Smart Public Affairs group head said, noting that the airport is located along the downtown area, a portion of the city where signal has been restored.

Other cell sites will be fired up in the next couple of hours, he said, but added that restoration in the whole of Tacloban will have to wait as it depends on the restoration of commercial power in the city.

But in total, Smart Communications- Public Affairs Group said in a statement that Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun network services have restored 82 percent of its network services in the Visayas; 100 percent in Bohol, Guimaras, Negros Oriental, and Southern Leyte; while still below 50 percent in Biliran and Eastern Samar.

In Palawan, network service is 100 percent normalized, except for Coron with 50 percent restored to date.

“We’re stepping up the deployment of network equipment to more areas so that we can restore rapidly services at strategic areas such as dense population centers, relief operations centers and vital facilities like airports,” Isberto said in a separate statement.

In the meantime, Isberto said they are hosting free calls and free mobile phone battery charging in the most severely affected cities and towns.

The specific locations of “Libreng Tawag” centers are as follows:

1.       Smart cellsite in Borongan City, Eastern Samar
2.       PNP Headquarters, Tacloban City, Leyte
3.       PLDT Office, Jones St., Tacloban City, Leyte
4.       DSWD booth, Tacloban City Hall
5.       Smart cellsite near VNG Subdivision, Tacloban City, Leyte
6.       Municipal Hall, Palo, Leyte
7.       Smart Store, Ormoc City, Leyte (with free mobile phone charging)
8.       Ormoc City Plaza, Ormoc City, Leyte
9.       Ormoc airport, Ormoc City, Leyte
10.   Municipal Hall, San Francisco, Camotes Island, Cebu
11.   Cebu Cultural Center, Bantayan Island
12.   Smart cellsite in Sta.Fe, Bantayan Island (with free mobile phone charging)
13.   Madridejos Municipal Hall, Bantayan Island (with free mobile phone charging)

In Tacloban City and Palo, Leyte, Libreng Tawag stations will be available to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as per curfew rules in the area, except in VNG Subdivision which is open only at night.

Free mobile phone battery charging services are also available at the Smart cellsite in Roxas City in Capiz, and Smart cellsite in Old Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan.

Additional teams have been deployed to open more Libreng Tawag stations in Leyte and Samar where the most devastated communities are located.

“We’re using different mobile and satellite technologies to rapidly address the needs of these communities. Aside from mobile network restoration and deployment of Smart Satellite Services, we’ve also partnered with Vodafone Foundation for the set up of an instant mobile network in Leyte,” said Isberto.

He said an ultra-portable network will be installed in Palo, Leyte, also to restore vital communications in the area in support of humanitarian relief and rehabilitation efforts.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Woman wins $5M verdict from AT&T for discrimination

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City woman who converted from Christianity to Islam has been awarded $5 million in punitive damages by a jury who found the telecommunications giant AT&T created a "hostile work environment" after her conversion, according to a judge's order issued Friday.

Susann Bashir, a 41-year-old married mother, sued AT&T unit Southwestern Bell for what she said was a pattern of offensive and discriminatory conduct by her supervisors that began when she converted to Islam in 2005, six years after she started working for the company as a network technician.

After Bashir started wearing a religious head scarf known as a hijab, and attending Friday mosque services, her managers and co-workers called her names including "terrorist," and told her she was going to hell, said her attorney Amy Coopman.

A manager repeatedly told her to remove her hijab, insulted her for wearing it, and once physically grabbed Bashir and tried to rip the hijab off her head, according to the suit.

Bashir complained to human resources and then filed a formal complaint alleging discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was subsequently fired in 2010.

Though Bashir's complaint alleged she was fired in a retaliatory action by AT&T, the jury did not agree, and no damages were awarded on that charge.

After several days of hearing testimony and deliberation, a jury in Jackson County Circuit Court on Thursday ordered AT&T to pay $5 million in punitive damages on top of $120,000 in actual damages.

AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said the company would appeal.

"AT&T is a nationally recognized leader in workforce diversity and inclusion, something in which we take great pride. We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal," Richter said.

Bashir's lawyer said the jury award was "monumental" to Bashir, but said it had little impact on AT&T, a multi-billion-dollar global corporation.

"The company has an excellent written policy," said Coopman.

"If they had just followed the policy none of this would have happened." — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com