Nokia Siemens Networks launches itself as a new company today. The firm represents the merger of the telecommunications network organizations from the two companies, with annual revenues in the order of $20B and positioned in the top three global share in each of wireless networks, telco services and wireline networks.

The venture begins with 60,000 employees, including 20,000 professionals working on the services side of the house.

Nokia Siemens Networks CEO Simon Beresford-Wylie will be delivering the closing keynote address on Tuesday June 12 at The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit.

John Roese doesn’t blog frequently enough – I guess his day job keeps getting in the way – but I find that each post provides insight into his vision.

I like these insights.

In his latest post, he talks about his concept of ‘true’ broadband:

My definition of broadband communications is more associated with the experience than the technology involved. In a true broadband communications experience, the technology is so effective in delivering a rich experience that you simply forget about the underlying technology and just communicate.

John’s definition uses a approach that is refreshingly technology independent. People often confuse requirements with solutions. RFPs might define a requirement for fibre, when the real requirement is perhaps the capacity often associated with fibre.

How many people go to the hardware store thinking they need nails, when the real requirement is fastening two pieces of wood together. Perhaps a dove-tail joint would be better suited if it is furniture, or screws if you need more strength. Or nails if one of the requirements is cheap and quick.

There may be a broader range of solutions that can be brought into view, if people will take the time to define real requirements. It is a systems engineering approach. I like to see John Roese speaking in such terms.

He’ll be our closing speaker at The 2007 Canadian Telecom Summit in June.

Twenty years ago, I was working for AT&T Bell Laboratories on a special assignment, preparing the proposal for FTS-2000, the procurement of the US government’s Federal Telecom Services. It was an enormous project; a very large team of us got relocated to the outskirts of Washington. I spent months commuting between DC, New Jersey and Illinois. It was also a great team building and learning experience.

I reminisced about the days working on FTS-2000 when I read yesterday that AT&T;, Qwest and Verizon won pieces of the successor network, Networx Universal, potentially valued at up to $48B. Can you imagine a procurement of that scale? And that is $48B green dollars!

Once again, the US has gone multi-vendor, an approach I endorsed last November for the Canadian Government with its wireless services.

I like to think competition brings out the best in all of us.

Today must be National Post Telecom Day. The entire commentary page of the Financial Post (FP19 for the edition I receive) is dedicated to telecommunications issues.

Hal Singer writes about the chill on investment that could be caused by net neutrality in a piece called Not Neutrality.

Terence Corcoran calls on Ottawa to stay the course for increasing the pace of telecom reform in his editorial Backbone Needed.

And yours truly writes about the need for Industry Canada to resist the temptation to meddle with market forces in the upcoming wireless spectrum auction in my piece Hang up on call for cell phone subsidies. The themes are consistent with material you have read on this blog. As a consumer, I would like wireless rates to fall even more — I really do like free. But, as a taxpayer, I question the government artificially stimulating an additional competitor.

Update [September 28, 10:00 am]
You can access a pdf version of the OpEd here.