NEC appoints new chief executive for Brazil operations | ZDNet

Japanese technology firm NEC has announced a new leader for its Brazil operations as part of the company’s strategy to reposition itself in the mobile networking segment.

Angelo Guerra, previously Vice President for the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean operations at the company, has taken over as chief executive for NEC’s Brazilian subsidiary.

According to the company, Guerra – who prior to joining NEC worked for nearly two decades at Nokia – will be leading the company through a “key moment”. This relates to NEC’s comeback to the mobile networking segment under the Open RAN strategy, which focuses on lowering costs and boosting efficiency for mobile operators through interoperability between different hardware vendors.

In addition to Guerra’s ongoing focus on planning new businesses and partnerships, as well as the development of new services to its customer base, the executive will handle the challenge of strengthening certain areas of the company, such as the integration of technologies and suppliers.

The new strategy means the Brazilian operation will have “an intense journey ahead” as it moves to resume NEC’s business with operators in the mobile aspect of networks, according to Guerra. “We have all the support of our headquarters to translate this plan into practice”, the executive said.

Guerra also has plans to strengthen the security offerings of NEC networks, especially through its identification and digital government portfolios. NEC’s security offerings were bolstered in 2016, when it acquired Arcon Hardware, a Brazilian cybersecurity firm.

“Our advantage is that we have advanced technologies of our own in addition to those supplied by partners, as well as expertise in the end-to-end implementation of complex projects”, the executive added.

Yasushi Tanabe, who had been acting as NEC Brazil president since the second half of 2018, took over as chairman of the Japanese firm’s operations in Latin America in October.

Tanabe stepped in following the departure of the previous incumbent Daniel Mirabile, who left NEC in early 2018 after leading a restructuring process with spending and staff cuts as well as a boost in the local offerings.