Oki spins off telecomm biz

Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd's Board of Directors has approved the spin-off of its telecommunications business through an incorporation-type company split and the establishment of Oki Networks Co. Ltd, effective Oct. 1. By splitting its telecom division, excluding legacy-type business, Oki aims to expand its telecom business by enhancing product development to compete in the rapidly changing global network market.

Oki has been offering telecom products to Japan's major telecom carriers and to the enterprise network market. However, in recent years, as networks migrate to IP and the use of next generation networking (NGN)-based ubiquitous networks accelerates, the business environment has been changing rapidly and globally with fiercer competition.

"In order to become a winner in this competitive network market and further expand our telecom business, we understand that it is essential to further increase flexibility in management and establish a business structure that can respond to the changing market in a more agile and timely manner. Thus, we decided to establish Oki Networks," said Masayoshi Matsushita, senior VP at Oki. "In addition, to expand into new markets, we believe it is important to strengthen our marketing skills and at an early stage, establish a market-driven business model that is flexible and responsive to the market changes."

Oki Networks aims to offer advanced services seamlessly connecting telecom networks with enterprise networks based on NGN. Oki will continue to expand its telecom business by creating new products with an eye on the global market. This will be done by leveraging its strengths in highly reliable network technology, network integration technology, offering a full service from IP network technology, design through to maintenance, and eSound, eVideo etc. to enable high quality voice and video over IP.