Alcatel-Lucent prepares for The Shift

Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled The Shift Plan, a strategic project to reposition it from a general telecom equipment supplier to a specialist in IP networks and ultra high-speed fixed and mobile broadband. 

Under the plan, ultra-broadband access and IP networking will account for 85% of the company’s R&D investment by 2015.

Alcatel-Lucent has set a target of growing core networking segment revenues by 15% to over €7 billion in 2015, while the ‘access and other’ segment will generate over €250 million in operating cash flow, up from €115 million cash negative in 2012.

The company has also targeted €1 billion in fixed cost savings and asset sales and debt reduction of €2 billion.

Alcatel-Lucent has named Philippe Guillemot as its new senior executive vice-president, operations. Guillemot has held senior roles at Michelin and Valeo and has served as chairman and CEO of Areva T&D.

“Today we are taking comprehensive action to position Alcatel-Lucent at the heart of the digital ecosystem, a place from which we will be able properly to capitalize on our many strengths. The Shift Plan is fundamentally an industrial plan that also addresses the Group’s operational and financial challenges by putting in place a strong and fully accountable leadership team with clear goals and the appropriate levers to deliver on these goals and on our commitments to all stakeholders,” said Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes. “With The Shift Plan, which is designed to be self-funding, we are aligning realistic and deliverable ambitions with our core competencies. Over the next three years we are targeting €1 billion of fixed costs savings, and carefully defined and timed asset sales expected to generate at least an additional €1 billion.”