Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Nokia Siemens scales down presence in Iran

The company will no longer sign new maintenance contracts

Telecommunications vendor Nokia Siemens Networks is further limiting the way it does business in Iran, as the international stance against the country is hardened.

The company started to scale back its presence in Iran last year, but has until now extended maintenance contracts, which it will no longer do, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Nokia Siemens made the decision as a result of tougher export restrictions against Iran, said the spokeswoman.

The telecommunications equipment vendor isn't the only one that has decided to limit its business activities in Iran.

Last week, Huawei Technologies said it will "restrict its business development there by no longer seeking new customers and limiting its business activities with existing customers" due to "the increasingly complex situation in Iran", according to a statement on its website, while also underlining that its business in the country has been in full compliance with all laws and regulations including those of the U.N., U.S. and E.U.

Ericsson took similar measures in December last year, a spokesman said.

The vendors have been criticized on several occasions for providing equipment to countries that could use it to curb human rights.

In August, Nokia Siemens came under fire because a Siemens division had allegedly supplied technology to a monitoring center in Bahrain, which was used to help carry out human rights violations. The monitoring center business was sold by Nokia Siemens in 2009.

Partly as a result of the issues raised by the potential for misuse of its technology, Nokia Siemens adopted a human rights policy to address the issues of new technologies and freedom of expression, it said in a statement at the time.

On Friday, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that technology companieshave a moral obligation not to sell to repressive regimes.

Every actor, public and private, must take up responsibility for how its products can be used, and be transparent about the technology they are selling in certain countries, according to Kroes.

At the same time, she highlighted the fact that information and communications technology also help the struggle for human rights.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Ericsson, EU, Huawei, Nokia, Siemens
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: 3g, 4g, Carriers, Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Nokia Siemens Networks, Telecommunication
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • The Top 5 Server Monitoring Battles—and How You Can Win Them
    The role of servers in your organization has changed substantially—with their uses, requirements, and complexity all increasing dramatically in recent years. Many of the traditional tools and techniques that worked in the past don’t suffice any more. Consequently, server monitoring presents several critical battles in today’s demanding environments. This guide looks at some of the most pressing challenges administrators face in ensuring optimal server performance, and it offers insights into the tools and strategies required to address these demands.
    Learn more »
  • Gartner MarketScope for Application Life Cycle Management
    Organisations adopting agile practices, utilising global and distributed teams, or exploiting complex processes and technologies are most likely to benefit from using ALM tools to plan, manage and report on their development activities. This MarketScope assesses the market offerings and their providers.
    Learn more »
  • Implementing Energy Efficient Data Centres
    Electrical power usage is not a typical design criterion for data centers, nor is it effectively managed as an expense. This is true despite the fact that the electrical power costs over the life of a data center may exceed the costs of the electrical power system including the UPS, and also may exceed the cost of the IT equipment. Read on.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.