By JOEL D. PINAROC
A continued growth of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, and a yet-to-be-announced deal with the Philippines’ largest telecommunications group lifted the revenue performance of network equipment vendor Nortel in the country.
"We surpassed last year’s performance, in terms of revenues. This year’s excellent performance was due mainly to BPOs and another contract with the PLDT group," Tony Pio de Roda, managing director of Nortel Philippines, who said the huge contract with the carrier, has yet to be announced.
The company, which has won several multi-million-peso contracts from Philippine-based academic institutions and medical establishments, has also counted heavily on BPO firms to drive revenues.
Nortel is one of the largest provider of Internet protocol-based solutions to Philippine-based call centers, particularly VoIP equipment.
But the company’s bread and butter continues to be the telecom industry, where most of its business was generated.
Its latest win from the PLDT group was an international gateway solution which will power PLDT’s wireless arm Smart Communications’ next generation, carrier-grade wireless VoIP services
In a press release, Nortel also said it has a longstanding relationship with Smart’s parent company and the new Smart contract has been concluded under a new, synergized procurement approach. By jointly negotiating supply agreements for both PLDT and Smart, the purchasing process is being streamlined for company and vendor alike.
Nortel also earlier bagged a deal with PLDT rival Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel) for the provision of similar network expansion equipment.
Regarding its global business, Nortel reported that it been selected by Verizon Wireless to provide the US carrier with network gear meant to accommodate Verizon’s expansion plans.
Nortel chief executive and president Mike Zfirovski earlier this year also outlined Nortel’s direction, saying that the company " identified services as one of the key strategic areas to drive our business momentum and growth."
"Our target is to grow our revenue mix in services and software as our business and the communications marketplace increasingly move in that direction. We are expanding what is already a robust collection of services offerings," Zafirovski, in a statement said.
|
