"There's no way we are cutting our staff by 25 percent," he said. "We are in a different situation because we have quickly turned towards the network technologies of the future."

Nokia Siemens Networks, the world's second-largest maker of mobile phone network equipment, said in November it was axing 17,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce, to help save about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) a year.

Verwaayen also reconfirmed Alcatel-Lucent's aim to generate cash flow in 2012. He added that the repatriation of cash from Chinese unit Alcatel Shanghai Bell "is possible, but it's a long process."

($1 = 0.7703 euros)

(Reporting by Elena Berton; Editing by Himani Sarkar)