Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has appointed Samih Elhage as its chief operating officer. Elhage will report to the company's chief executive officer, Rajeev Suri. The new role of COO has been created to lead the Global Operations organisation at Nokia Siemens Networks and the transformation of the company's mode of operations and business performance management. In this new role, Elhage joins the company's executive board. Elhage was previously a senior advisor to private equity and global management consulting firms, focusing on investments and improving the operating performance of companies in the telecommunications sector. Prior to these advisory roles, until August 2010, Elhage held leadership roles at Nortel, including president of Carrier Voice over IP and Applications Solutions and vice president of Corporate Business Operations. Elhage has more than 22 years of expertise in telecommunications. He began his career at Bell Canada in 1990 where he held multiple management and leadership roles relating to network development. Elhage then joined Nortel in 1998, where he held leadership roles in its Optical, Broadband and Core Data Networks organisations, before assuming leadership of Business Transformation and Operations. Herbert Merz, who has been leading both Global Operations and Optical Networks for Nokia Siemens Networks, will focus on the optical business. Merz remains on the executive board and will continue to lead the Nokia Siemens Networks Germany supervisory board.
