Nokia to sack 550 at networks unit

Mobile phone and networks equipment maker Nokia said today it will cut 550 staff or more than three per cent of the hard-hit …

Mobile phone and networks equipment maker Nokia said today it will cut 550 staff or more than three per cent of the hard-hit networks division as it adjusts to falling demand for its products.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker and a leading supplier of networks equipment, said the reductions would take place at research and development sites in the United States, Britain, Sweden and Finland.

"The aim is to increase efficiency and operational synergies as well as to reduce costs," Nokia said in a statement, adding it expected some of the staff to relocate within the company.

Nokia like its rivals, including Sweden's Ericsson, has struggled over the past two years with falling demand for wireless equipment as telecoms operators rein in spending on upgrading networks after years of runaway growth.