Nokia CEO says ZTE U.S. export ban could help it longer-term

HELSINKI/LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. ban on exports to China's ZTE over alleged Iran sanctions violations could play to the long-term advantage of rival network equipment supplier Nokia, the Finnish company's chief executive said on Thursday.

"It is too early to tell what the impact might be from ZTE," Rajeev Suri said in response to a journalist's question on a conference call following Nokia's quarterly report regarding ZTE's standoff with U.S. authorities.

"Longer term there might be opportunities particularly in the areas of mobile ... and optics," he said, referring to big business segments in which both compete, namely wireless network infrastructure and fixed-line optical gear to haul data traffic.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Mark Potter)