TELECOM | Nokia says its 5G deal momentum continues
Nokia said it is continuing its 5G momentum, with 66 commercial deals and 19 live networks.
HELSINKI — Finland-based telecommunications equipment company Nokia issued on Thursday its financial report for the last quarter and the full year of 2019, saying it is continuing its 5G momentum, with 66 commercial deals and 19 live networks.
In the report, Nokia published estimates of its market share for the first time, saying it had a 27- percent market share in fourth and fifth generation mobile networks in Q4.
Jonas Forslund, an analyst at Evli Bank, a Finnish bank specializing in investment, told Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper that he did not expect a fast increase in Nokia’s numbers, and one reason was that the 5G market is now taking a breath after the first wave of investments.
Rajeev Suri, president and CEO of Nokia, said in the report: “Nokia’s fourth quarter 2019 results were a strong end to a challenging year. We saw strength in many parts of our business in the quarter, delivered a slightly better operating profit than the same period in 2018, generated solid free cash flow, and increased our net cash balance to 1.7 billion euros (1.87 billion U.S. dollars).”
Suri was confident that Nokia is “taking the right steps to deliver progressive improvement over the course of this year and to position us for a stronger 2021.”