Nokia names Sandeep Girotra as head of APAC and Japan market, Sanjay Malik to take over

NEW DELHI: Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia has promoted India head Sandeep Girotra as the head of Asia-Pacific and Japan market, and named Sanjay Malik as the new head of the country, a person familiar with the development, told ET

Malik, who is currently serving Nokia as the vice president and head of global network implementation services, which is a part of the company’s Global Services business, will assume the responsibility from August 1, 2016, the person added.

The change in the India leadership is a part of the ongoing restructuring exercise to combine the teams and processes of Alcatel-Lucent, which Nokia bought last year.

Nokia earlier this month announced a plan to complete the acquisition of its former rival, French-American Alcatel-Lucent during the third quarter. The world's former top mobile phone maker had gained control of 80 percent of Alcatel-Lucent's shares by January but has struggled to mop up the remaining shareholders to gain full control of the company.

Girotra is currently overseeing the combined company’s customer operations across India, driving the execution of strategy and ensuring customer service.

Girotra joined Nokia Networks in 1996 and has held different roles in India, heading the region since 2011. In 2010, he served as head of sales for business solution networks, having been customer team head at Idea Cellular within Nokia Siemens Networks from 2007 to 2009.