Latin America ends 2022 as Nokia’s second fastest-growing region

Driven by network infrastructure and mobile networks, particularly 5G deals, Latin America ended 2022 as the second fastest-growing market region for Nokia in terms of sales.

With 1.22bn euros (US$1.32bn) in revenue, up 24% compared with 2021 (or 12% in currency-adjusted terms), Latin America was second only to the 25% jump in revenues in India, according to the Finnish company’s financials.

The company’s Mobile Networks area saw stronger net sales in 4Q22 on a constant currency basis, particularly in India (up 128%) and Europe (+28%), although Latin America (+19%) and Asia Pacific (+17%) also grew. 

On the other hand, North America saw a decline in the quarter. Rival Ericsson had already reported a slowdown in North America as local telcos hit the brakes on spending.

A low point for Nokia in Latin America, however, was the cloud and network services segment. This line of business declined in Latin America and India in 4Q22, but expanded strongly in North America, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Hard figures were not provided.

Within the firm's Network Infrastructure segment, fixed networks grew 8% globally in 4Q22 on a constant currency basis, despite a tough year-ago comparison, with the increase driven by strong ongoing fiber deployments. The expansion was particularly marked in Latin America and Europe, Nokia said, although without details.

Meanwhile, net sales in the Submarine Networks division were up 32% on a global constant currency basis, as webscale-driven project deployments continued to drive growth, the company said. 

Among the new construction contracts focusing on the region are the AMX-3/Tikal cable system, just announced by América Móvil and Telxius, connecting Boca Raton in the US and Puerto Barrios in Guatemala. 

The cable is already being built by Nokia's Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and is due to go live in 2025.

ASN is also the contractor of FP’s Aurora Cable and of the Ecuador-US system Carnival Submarine Network-1 (CSN-1).

PRIVATE NETWORKS AND OUTLOOK

One particular driver for the group has been the enterprise wireless segment.

Globally, the company said it added 45 new private network customers during the fourth quarter, accelerating from 30 in 3Q22, reaching 560. 

Latin America is estimated to account for more than 30 of the total.

Among the most recent contracts with enterprises in the region, Nokia announced in November that it will deploy a private LTE network at the international terminal at San Antonio, Chile's biggest port.

For 2023, Nokia is projecting global net sales of 24.9bn-26.5bn euros in the best case scenario, which would represent 8% growth in constant currency terms.

Photo credit: AFP