Dallas Blog

Amidst all the gloomy news of local business shutterings of late, this ray of sunshine for folks in the telecom industry: Nokia Siemens Networks has announced the opening of a research-and-development facility in the area that the company's calling "another significant step in further accelerating the development of Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology in North America." (That's 3G, to you and me. More or less.) The facility's being referred to as a Next Gen Technology Lab, and Irving-based spokesperson Chantal Boeckman tells Unfair Park today that the facility is actually opening in the existing Nokia Siemens facility in Irving on Connection Drive.

Nokia Siemens currently employs 900 people in the DFW, but Boeckman expects the company to add another 100 as it develops technology to work with AT&T and Verizon cell phones today and well beyond tomorrow. Some will come from within the company, but "we want to tap into local talent," she says, "knowing there are a lot of people with telecom experience in the area." --Robert Wilonsky