ALCATEL-LUCENT SA, the world's largest supplier of fixed-line phone networks, chose former BT Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben Verwaayen to run the company as it seeks to end six straight quarters of losses.

Philippe Camus, co-managing partner of Lagardere SCA, will serve as non-executive chairman of the Paris-based company, Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement yesterday. Verwaayen and Camus replace Patricia Russo and Serge Tchuruk, who said in July they're leaving Alcatel-Lucent after US$7 billion in losses since the merger that created the company.

Verwaayen, 56, gives Alcatel-Lucent a CEO who worked both at telecommunications carriers and at Lucent Technologies Inc, the United States equipment maker acquired by Alcatel SA in 2006. At BT, the UK's largest phone company, he cut about 5,000 jobs a year as sales fell at the land-line voice business and profit slumped as rivals began offering high-speed Internet access.

"Similar to Alcatel-Lucent, BT was perceived as a company in poor condition before Verwaayen took over," Alexander Peterc, an European communications-equipment analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News by phone on Monday. "So he has to do the same again and cut costs, accelerate the restructuring, focus the company on the right market segments and instill confidence in the organization and its employees."

Alcatel-Lucent fell 8 cents, or 1.9 percent, to 4.22 euros (US$6.11) at 11:06am in Paris trading yesterday. Some investors may be disappointed that the board didn't pick Mike Quigley, a former Alcatel SA president, as chief executive, Peterc said in a report yesterday. The stock also may be falling because Alcatel-Lucent is being removed from the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, he said.

Before yesterday, Alcatel-Lucent shares had fallen 46 percent in 12 months, compared with a 34-percent decline in the Bloomberg Europe Telecommunication Equipment Index. Losses mounted in the past two years at Alcatel-Lucent amid spending cuts at customers including Sprint Nextel Corp and price competition from Ericsson AB and Huawei Technologies Co. The company also struggled to integrate different product lines.

"I know I'm an optimistic guy, but I feel we have absolutely great assets," Verwaayen said in a conference call with reporters. "The thing that has struck me most is that there is a very clear path for this company going forward."

Verwaayen joined BT in 2002 as the former UK phone monopoly, having spun off its wireless division, grappled with falling revenue from fixed-line calls and regulatory scrutiny of its pricing.

The Dutch executive boosted sales of business services to 7.9 billion pounds from 4.5 billion pounds in six years as revenue from retail and wholesale services plunged. Under Verwaayen, BT's sales outside the UK grew to 17 percent of the total from 8 percent in fiscal 2002.

Verwaayen declined to say whether he plans more workforce cuts. "Everything I've done in my previous life does not necessarily apply here," he said. "You can't cut yourself to greatness."