Even after announcing 1,000 job cuts globally, Alcatel-Lucent is bullish on the Indian telecom market and plans to hire about 1,000 people by next year.
"The job cut was announced at a global level and we have not been told of any job losses in India (operations). We have about 70,000 employees globally and 1,000 jobs being cut are less than the attrition that one sees.
"However, I would like to hire another 500-1,000 people in the next one year for India operations," Alcatel-Lucent India president Vivek Mohan told PTI.
The company had recently announced its plans to reduce the number of managers by about 1,000 and the number of contractors by another 5,000 as a part of its restructuring initiatives.
The company is in discussion with other firms for deployment of low-cost WiMax devices in the country.
"We are looking for a partner for deployment of low-cost WiMax devices here. It is a fairly large deal and we expect to close it in the next 30-60 days," he said, declining to give further details.
The company will also be focussing on developing applications for its customers, a terrain that was previously untouched and focus on three markets -- service providers, enterprises and selected verticals.
"The intent is to develop applications which are not just wallpaper and music. We are developing some unique content for the operators, like a traffic alert which has been received well by Mumbai traffic police," Mohan added.
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