Slowdown augurs well for Nortel RP business

By Miguel Camus

Telecommunications product manufacturer Nortel Philippines still sees double-digit growth this year, despite the weakening economy.

Antonio de Roda, managing director of Nortel Philippines, told the BusinessMirror that continued growth, particularly in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and telecommunication sectors, is enough reason for the company to view 2008 optimistically.

He said a large part of their business is involved with providing infrastructure to telecommunications companies which constitutes about 75 percent of their operations here and providing routers and phone systems for enterprise businesses such as call centers and banks, which accounts for the remaining 25 percent.

He said that even with the economic slowdown, telecom providers continue to grow by about 20 percent. Telco giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) recently announced capital expenditures of 2008 at P25 billion for infrastructure expansion, which augurs well for Nortel’s Philippine business.

But more noteworthy is the growth occurring in the enterprise businesses, particularly call centers and other business process outsourced BPO operations.

He said the company realized that early on, their business with telecommunications clients were not very sustainable, as these contracts are publicly bid out. But with enterprise businesses, they have found a recurring revenue stream.

“What we have done is build up a steady income stream. Telecommunication is just the gravy,” he said. Among their clients in enterprise businesses are the call-center operations of HSBC Corp. and Manila Electric Co.

He said that call centers in Baguio supported only about 200 agents two years ago. Now, the number is closer to 5,000 seats.

De Roda said while the economic slowdown might clear up within next year, he isn’t complaining. “This crisis is actually helping us on the enterprise side.”

Nortel provides infrastructure for telecommunication companies such as the multimillion-dollar domestic fiber optic network of PLDT for higher capacity voice data and video services. They also provide routers, phone systems and interactive voice-responsive systems.

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Slowdown augurs well for Nortel RP business

Telecommunications product manufacturer Nortel Philippines still sees double-digit growth this year, despite the weakening economy.

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