With competition in the telecoms market continuing to increase, towercos and MNOs are looking for every possible edge to reduce time to market, and increase overall opex while limiting capex. We spoke with Robert Lindell at Elektroskandia China to discuss their background in telecoms and learn how they are partnering with telecoms companies and more recently towercos to increase their operational efficiency.
TowerXchange: Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role and background in telecoms.
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
My name is Robert Lindell and I’m from Sweden, but have been working outside Sweden since 1997 in different regional and global roles within telecom at Ericsson, Ascom, Dingli Communications and since 2014 at Elektroskandia China.
I’m now the Director of Sales and Business Development at Elektroskandia China and I’m based in Shanghai.
TowerXchange: Please introduce your company – where do you fit in the telecoms infrastructure ecosystem?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
Elektroskandia AB was founded in 1904 in Sweden and was a part of ABB under the name Asea Skandia until 1997. In 1999, Elektroskandia AB extended its footprint to China, Elektroskandia China has established its leading position in integrated supply of telecommunication installation materials, key components and materials related to new energy ever since its startup in Shanghai in 1999. Since 2008, Elektroskandia China is part of the French privately held Sonepar Group, a leading global industrial distributor.
Being an industrial distributor and supply chain specialist, the products we distribute can be divided into the following areas: telecom network site material solutions & supply chain management, wind power installation material solutions and solar panel installation material solutions. Within telecom we distribute site material, cables, fibre solutions, antennas and towers.
TowerXchange: The first question our readers will want to know is ‘how proven is the solution in the field’ – please tell us about the performance of your solution in the field – who is using it and what results have been achieved?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
Elektroskandia has more than 30 years’ experience working with customers like for example Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel among others and has throughout the years developed to one of their most important partners in supplying site material and other equipment. During the last few years we have also been working in the tower industry with a lot more new customers which are one of the reasons why we are participating at the Towerxchange event in Singapore.
TowerXchange: How can supply chain management be integrated with tower portfolio management to support towercos and MNOs?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
The telecom industry has high pressure to deliver solutions that are cost effective with high capacity to fulfil the customers’ needs and working with companies such as Elektroskandia China can help them with the on-time delivery, high product quality, managing high and low seasons and most importantly we can help them to reduce the working capital.
TowerXchange: How does your solution help manage different stakeholders within the tower supply chain, from tenants to subcontractors?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
Elektroskandia China has a wide portfolio of telecom site installation materials, cables, antennas and towers and depending who the stakeholders are we can support with good quality products from China or other markets.
TowerXchange: How can your solution be configured to adapt to different towerco’s unique business processes and workflows?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
We supply products all over the world from Elektroskandia China or through our sister companies within the Sonepar group. Each market and customer has different business processes and workflows and because we are part of the global Sonepar group we can easily adopt to the customer’s needs.
TowerXchange: How can a robust approach to supply chain management improve the valuation of tower assets?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
In today’s competitive landscape with high volume, but decreased margins, the companies with the most efficient supply chain will be the winners. Elektroskandia China has a long history in the telecom world and will continue supporting current and new customers for mutual success.
TowerXchange: Please sum up how you would differentiate your solution from your competitors’?
Robert Lindell, Director, Sales & Business Development, Elektroskandia China:
We have several competitors, but no one with the global presence as Elektroskandia and Sonepar.
We have been working more than 30 years with the major telecom suppliers to provide our services all over the world with good quality, speed and price. The tower companies are our latest customer segment and we believe it will support our growth over the next couple of years.
