The CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, the world's largest telecom equipment maker, says the industry's outlook may be uncertain but growth opportunities remainIs the market for telecom network equipment, like most of the economy, in a downturn? Not according to Alcatel-Lucent CEO Patricia Russo.
Sure, the world's largest maker of telecom gear didn't wow Wall Street with its first-quarter report, and there's been plenty of skepticism about the company's performance since Alcatel's merger with Lucent in early 2007. On Apr. 30, Alcatel (ALU) posted a larger-than-expected decline in first-quarter sales (BusinessWeek.com, 4/30/08) and forecast a slight full-year drop in revenue. Yet, the Paris company blamed a weak dollar, which erodes the value of U.S. sales when converted to euros. Excluding currency effects, first-quarter sales would have risen 6.3%. Fact is, Russo says, there are many reasons to view the telecom gear market with optimism, starting with the "arms race" among wired and wireless service providers to deliver speedier Internet access on the networks.
Russo talked to BusinessWeek.com senior writer Olga Kharif on May 7 about the outlook for the industry and the company.
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