Nokia and Russia’s Rostelecom have established a new joint venture named RTC-network technologies.
It will focus on forming a portfolio of innovative, high-tech infrastructural solutions built on Nokia’s technologies in integration with domestic advanced developments.
According to Rostelecom, the creation of the joint venture is a logical step following the signing of the memorandum on cooperation between Rostelecom and Nokia in May this year, in the frame of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It is planned for the joint venture to form an innovations’ platform for advanced foreign and domestic solutions for the telecom industry and corporate clients. The joint venture will also serve as an incubator for domestic start-ups. This will allow it in the mid-term to a leading supplier of advanced domestic networking and cloud solutions for the infrastructure of Rostelecom, as well for large state and enterprise customers.
Nokia will provide its expertise and portfolio of products, as well as assist in attracting funding for promising areas of joint venture’s activities. Meanwhile, Rostelecom will invest in the expertise of the Russian technological companies associated with the company and ensure in the priority participation of the joint venture in the development of the technological landscape of its network.
Nokia is expected to provide up to R10 billion (€128.6 million) in funding between 2019-2022. This could be used o finance the development of the joint venture’s own products, acquisitions and equity’s participation of the Russian technological companies as well as other purposes.
Commenting on the joint venture, Mikhail Oseevsky, president of Rostelecom, said: “We are pleased to further expand this mutually beneficial cooperation with our strategic partner – Nokia. The joint venture will become a competence centre for implementing joint projects by leveraging the synergy of Nokia’s expertise and portfolio of products and Rostelecom’s experience in complex implementation of federal-scale projects, which will be supported by solutions developed in the joint venture.”
Alexander Aivazov, VP for business development at Rostelecom, added: “The new joint venture will provide a serious inorganic growth of the technological landscape of Rostelecom and will be an important driver for new complex products for the Enterprise business of our company.”
Demitrio Russo, VP of Nokia in Eastern Europe, said: “The creation of the joint venture with Rostelecom is a result of the partnership between our companies in development of innovative communication networks, including 5G. Both companies are joining forces to provide their customers in Russia with innovative and best-in-class products, leveraging the strengths of each partner. Nokia has the most comprehensive portfolio of innovative solutions in the industry, which fully meets the challenges faced by the service providers and the industry ecosystem on the way to building a digital society and digital economy.”
