The CEO of telecoms giant Ericsson says Europe’s Apple tax ruling creates uncertainty for firms considering investing in Ireland, however it will not impact his company’s plans in the country.
“Of course it creates some sort of uncertainty, I can kind of understand that,” said Börje Ekholm, Ericsson’s CEO, in an interview for RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“We’re so far down the road now, we already have a base, we have good people… for us, it’s a bit regardless of what happens. But of course, longer term for Ireland, it’s worthwhile to think about,” he said.
Mr Ekholm is in Ireland today to visit Ericsson’s facilities in Athlone, which have been in operation for more than 50 years.
“We started actually as a factory in 1974, but today it’s an R&D centre, and it’s an end-to-end responsibility for a bit part of our portfolio,” he said.
Today the Athlone facility employs around 1,200 people, with a further 300 people working in Ericsson’s Dublin office.
“It’s all about talent – we’ve got a very strong talent pool,” he said. “I think we might have been early in identifying Ireland as an attractive location.”
“We have very strong people… I also think it’s a business-friendly environment in Ireland, that has helped us over the years and that’s of course critical.”
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Last year Ericsson announced 8,500 job cuts globally, while as recently as March it revealed another 1,200 job cuts in Sweden.
But while Mr Ekholm was careful not to commit either way, he said he believed the Athlone operation was currently the right size.
“It’s such a strong site today, and it’s such an important part of our operation,” he said. “We’re committed to Ireland and we’re committed the Athlone facility.
“I would say it’s the right size now – we may even see an increase in headcount,” he said. “Of course it’s always about availability of the competence, availability of housing, affordability of housing. But we are continuing to invest in Athlone.”
As part of marking its 50th year here, Ericsson is also announcing a partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the Technological University of the Shannon that aims to look at how artificial intelligence can improve the efficiency of future networks.
“It kind of combines academic research and industry expertise into what we call the future way of managing networks,” Mr Ekholm said. “It’s all about trying to be, what I would call them, zero-touch – we want the networks to operate by themselves, so self-adjust, self-optimise.
“And here AI plays a fundamental role,” he added.