The investment plans were announced by Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO, Nokia Siemens Networks on the first day of his three day visit to India. This is his first visit to the country as head of the newly formed company. Said Beresford-Wylie, "The Indian telecommunications market is entering a next wave of growth; one that will see a rapid build out of mobile and broadband networks outside the major cities and delivery of a host of new services to consumers across the country. To address this growing local demand, and reduce the overall time to market of products and services to our operator customers, we are investing in strengthening our local presence and creating a strong ecosystem in India.”

The proposed facility aims to address the strong market demand in India and will manufacture high end equipment. Nokia Siemens Networks will also establish a network of suppliers with focus on increased localized sourcing. The construction work at the site will begin later this year and commercial production is expected to begin in 2008.

“Nokia Siemens Networks has experienced strong business success since the launch of its operations in India,” said Ashish Chowdhary, Head of India Sub-region, Nokia Siemens Networks. “With our extensive managed services capability and end to end product portfolio, we are committed to building a strong local telecommunication ecosystem in India to address and drive the growth of the Indian mobile industry.”

In India, Nokia Siemens Networks is the largest telecommunications equipment vendor* and the leader in managed services. A leading supplier to all the major GSM operators in the country, Nokia Siemens Networks serves its customers with a best-in-class portfolio, a strong presence in the growing services market, a powerful global R&D team, and a huge global installed base. Nokia Siemens Networks’ operations in India include Sales & Marketing, Research & Development, Manufacturing and Global Networks Operations Centre. Headquartered at Gurgaon, the company has presence in over 170 locations across the country.

*as reported by Voice & Data Top 100 Survey, India