Samih Elhage joins NSN as COO

Samih Elhage joins Nokia Siemens Networks, today, as the chief operating officer (COO) while the restructuring is underway. He would be reporting to the company's chief executive officer, Rajeev Suri. Elhage joins the company's Executive Board with over 22 years of exprtise in telecommunications.

Herbert Merz, who has been leading both Global Operations and Optical Networks for Nokia Siemens Networks, would focus on the optical business. Merz remains on the Executive Board and will continue to lead the Nokia Siemens Networks Germany supervisory board.

In his new role, he would be heading the Global Operations organization at Nokia Siemens Networks and he would be responsible for the transformation of the company's mode of operations and business performance management.

Prior to working with NSN, Elhage was a senior advisor to leading private equity and global management consulting firms, focusing on investments and improving the operating performance of companies in the telecommunications sector.

He also held leadership roles at Nortel, including president of Carrier Voice over IP and Applications Solutions and vice president of Corporate Business Operations. Elhage began his career at Bell Canada in 1990 where he held multiple management and leadership roles relating to network development.