It is not an easy environment for telecom operators, and as we noted in this post Monday, Alcatel-Lucent has expanded into business services in an effort to buoy the company. But what appears to be a poorly managed integration is a big factor in the departures, as well. As London analyst Richard Winson of Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. told Whitfield:

Integrating two companies always presents unique challenges, but cross-border deals ratchet up the difficulty considerably. We addressed the issue in Corporate Dealmaker on the eve of the Alcatel-Lucent merger, and with this latest development, the advice it offers on cross-border cultural integration is still very much relevant today. - Suzanne Stevens