The new factory will be tailored to producing mobile network infrastructure for Brazil, which is expected to invest heavily in network upgrades over the next couple of years. The upgrades being motivated both by regulatory pressure and commercial needs caused by the football World Cup in 2014.
"What we're looking to do is align our manufacturing capacity close to the markets that we're selling in. So that lowers our transport costs, tariffs and any other things that pop up," Ken Wirth, head of the Americas region for Nokia Siemens Networks told the Reuters news agency.
The requirement for local factories is also itself a regulatory issue, as the recently awarded 4G licenses require that at least 60% of the infrastructure kit is supplied locally.
It is expected that the factory will supply the Brazilian market for the next 18 months, after which sales will be expanded to the rest of South America.
On the web: Reuters
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