Nokia Siemens sees good interest from buyers for its non-core business unit

Mobile network equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) which was looking at divesting its non-core business lines today said it is seeing "good interest" from potential buyers for its business support systems (BSS) unit.

"We are seeing good interest for the BBS unit. I would say, overall, we have about six divestments that already took place. They're either not core to our mobile broadband or we see that the profitability is not where we want it to be," NSN chief executive Rajeev Suri today said.

Suri declined to provide details on how many companies Nokia Siemens was talking to regarding the sale and did not comment on whether it was in talks with Ericsson.

Formed by Nokia and Siemens in 2007, Nokia Siemens is in the middle of a restructuring plan.In November last year, the Finnish company had announced to reduce its global workforce by 17,000 by the end of 2013 to reduce operating expenses and realign itself to focus on mobile broadband and services.

Suri, said the restructuring was on track and the company was about six months ahead of its plans. "We have taken out significant amount of headcount already, we're on track in the business line divestiture as well," he added. The company has already reduced its global workforce by about 12,000.

The company said that the realignment would require it to increase its global delivery services procurement from India by almost three times by the end of next year.