ALCATEL-LUCENT TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM 2014: Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, used his time in the spotlight at last week’s event to reveal his thoughts on how the company’s new product portfolio compares to that of its rivals, taking aim at the likes of Cisco and Ericsson.

Having earlier said that the company is “back in the game”, Combes was bullish about the portfolio Alcatel-Lucent can offer its customers. “I respect everyone, we have strong competitors in the marketplace, no doubt. But I guess that we have some unique capabilities. We have a clear vision of networks, from core to integrated metro, to access with wireline as the major piece as it also supports wireless backhaul, and small cells,” he said.

“Ericsson is very strong in RAN, but do they have real capabilities on the full IP network?”

“Our competitors are strong in certain areas. Ericsson is very strong in RAN, but do they have real capabilities on the full IP network? Cisco is strong on the core, but it has to move from a legacy architecture to the new type of architecture we have presented. Cisco is still trying to push back this virtualisation evolution because it doesn’t want to lose its core business but we are going to fight against them big time,” the executive said.

“[Huawei is] probably the ones that have a portfolio that is not completely aligned with us, but the closest in terms of skills and capabilities,” Combes continued.

“The only way for me to win is to remain ahead of the game in terms of innovation. Bell Labs is a tremendous asset. To have the right cost structure, because you have to be competitive if you want to win in the marketplace. And you have to have the best quality in terms of execution. If we have that, I don’t fear any competitor, and I want to shape the industry rather than react to competitors,” he noted.

Speaking in a media roundtable, the executive said that while the company was undergoing its wide-ranging restructure, the most important element to its customer relationships was being transparent about the process. “I established a diagnosis, then I set up a new plan. As you can imagine, even before presenting this plan to the press, to the analysts, whoever, I went to the customers,” he said.

“I explained to them the situation where we stood. We are in a B2B business, so it’s better to be transparent. Going there, listening to their needs, explaining to them where we stand, what was my intent in terms of transforming the company, adjusting what I had in mind because I had to take in mind their considerations in terms of the legacy products they had, things like that,” he continued.

Combes’ comments last week certainly show a man brimming with confidence: “Customers which were concerned about the future of Alcatel-Lucent are now much more comfortable with the future of Alcatel-Lucent, meaning that for them we will remain a main player,” he stated.