Strategy products customers management

Nine months after his arrival at the head of the Board of Directors of Alcatel-Lucent in tandem with the Chief Executive, Ben Verwaayen, Philippe Camus is the point on the action of the new team. His priority remains the financial recovery of the Telecom OEM. On the eve of the General Assembly, he explained that the group will ask its shareholders "authorization to proceed with new issues of shares or convertible bonds". Objective: to give "the flexibility of the opportunities of refinancing quickly."

How you distribute you roles at the head of Alcatel-Lucent with Ben Verwaayen

Each role. Ben leads and represents the company. He is the boss. As President of the Council, I am here to support and control the management, to ensure that the Council can decide when it is his role in good conditions. Beyond the theoretical, in practice, the contact between us was immediately easy. Our relationship is based on transparency and the almost daily exchange of information. Work with confidence, to have a reciprocal visibility. In nine months, I have not seen strategic disagreement between us and we talk about everything. Strategy, products, customers, management.

Has the company really changed since your functions

We arrived on September 1, 2008 and we have hired five yards conversion from 2. Change in governance, new management, new strategy, new organization, transfers of assets... Even if Alcatel-Lucent had many that technological and human assets, the Group was however faced internal problems. The decision to merge was good and indispensable, but the operation has led to problems of governance. Disputes, in the former direction, between Serge Tchuruk and Patricia Russo, hid something deeper. Real integration between a very centralized Lucent and a largely decentralized Alcatel has not been fully completed. And a change of culture, it is not ordained. It had to begin by the Summit. This is what we have done. The fusion of cultures is committed. The direction is United. We share the same vision and we rely on a tightened Board increased from 14 to 10 members.

Define your strategy

Can sell only products. It must also sell services. We accompany the operators who seek to take advantage of all digital and broadband fixed and mobile to develop value-added services. We must be more in the application. As georeferenced on mobile advertising solutions or be able to sort in the data packets exchanged over the network so that an operator can offer "premium" services

You just give your stake in Thales to Dassault. Will you make new transfers of assets

We arrived quickly enough to an agreement with the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Charles Edelstenne I know well. And may 19, Dassault therefore finalized the purchase of our 20.8 in Thales to 1,567 billion euros, knowing that at March 31, 2009, we had a net debt of EUR 841 million. This deal has strengthened our financial strength. And we have a line of credit available of 1.4 billion. Therefore, in the immediate future, Alcatel-Lucent did not need money and there is no other disposals of assets to the order of the day. That said, for more flexibility, we ask the General Assembly of shareholders of tomorrow the authorization of new emission of shares or convertible bonds. We give the flexibility of opportunities of refinancing quickly if market conditions were favourable.

The action is 1.7 euro... This means that you are considering a capital increase at the current price

I didn't say this and in any event, we cannot be below 2 euros capital increase, the nominal value of our action. I say that if market conditions are met, we reserve the opportunity to study the options. And these are not proposals lacking at this time.

The perimeter of the group as it is today you think it appropriate

Yes. Overall, the configuration of Alcatel-Lucent seems good and stabilized. When I arrived, I looked at all the studies consultants and analysts that had been made. Some said to be that we've mobile infrastructure! It is clear that it was an error of analysis: today, in telecoms, it can no longer separate fixed and mobile networks. An example: If we had not already been the provider of the American operator Verizon in fixed telephony, I'm not sure that we would have won mobile contract for the fourth generation to him called "LTE". That being said we can proceed here and there a few adjustments of assets away from our professions.

And if an opportunity presents itself, are you able to carry out a targeted acquisition

This is not news. We are focused on the financial recovery of the group. The number one objective is to achieve balance in operating income adjusted end of 2009, in a market of telecoms that we expect a decrease of 8 to 12 this year. Moreover, it must be that we used the positive cash flow.

Since the merger, Alcatel-Lucent has removed 16,000 jobs. Are you considering other downsizing plans

You should never say never. A company lives, it can hire in some markets and reduce the number of employees in others. But today, we have not planned to launch major programmes of reductions in posts.

And in the research and development

The problem of the R & D at Alcatel-Lucent is the redeployment of resources. The technology is very sharp and it evolves very quickly. We must permanently redirect means to new markets, which is not easy to manage. As the cost of R & D in some countries is much lower than in France, Germany or in the United States. We invest approximately 15 of our turnover each year in R & D, which is little or no at the same level as our competitors. However, where we have a problem, it is rather at the level of overhead costs, which are too high. This is a consequence of the merger. Too many different layers of managers are superimposed.

In China, you have won big contracts. Is it against the margins

Of course, the pressure on prices is strong. But Alcatel-Lucent employs more than 10,000 people in China in a subsidiary that we hold the majority, which is not common in this country. Indeed, the last Board of Directors of the Group was held in Shanghai in late April. Finally, we have beaten our Chinese competitors Huawei and ZTE in these tenders using our weapons are the same as their own, namely engineers based in China.

Do you find Huawei and ZTE particularly threatening in Europe

Huawei and ZTE are developing first because the Chinese market is growing very quickly, especially this year. But Alcatel-Lucent's assets, in terms of technology. The Group has the experience and positions of market to beat them. Alcatel-Lucent is in the heart of the networks. Agree, it is a mature market and more many volumes grow. But it is a key market. We have expertise that newcomers such as Huawei and ZTE have not.