Tellabs cuts 530, including at Naperville headquarters

Tellabs Inc., which makes mobile network infrastructure equipment, said today that it is cutting about 530 positions, including at its Naperville headquarters, and will close four research-and-development centers.

The announcement came as the company posted fourth-quarter net loss of $5 million, or 1 cent per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $11 million or 3 cents per share in the fourth quarter 2010. Fourth-quarter revenue was $317 million, down from $410 million in the same period in 2010.

As a result of today’s cuts, Tellabs will have about 2,700 workers worldwide, compared to about 3,250. Affected workers were notified late Monday and most will leave today. The company is still is eliminating about 125 workers from an announcement made last July, said Tellabs spokesman George Stenitzer.

“We see some economic uncertainty, mostly in Europe,” Stenitzer said. That uncertainty has impacted sales for certain types of equipment.

Tellabs, which has long been part of the suburban telecommunications industry, underwent massive cuts during the dot-com era about a decade ago. While it had expanded its research and development in recent years, it now has decided to reduce the number of centers from nine to four.

Tellabs will close four R&D centers in California; Vancouver, British Columbia; India and Pakistan. It will keep centers in Naperville, Dallas, Santa Clara, Calif., and in Finland and China.

Affected workers are across all departments and will receive severance packages, said Stenitzer. He declined to specify how many are in Naperville

“We will reduce expenses and stop new development work on the Tellabs SmartCore 9100 LTE (long term evolution) product, while continuing to support Tellabs SmartCore 9100 WiMax customers,” Tellabs CEO and President Rob Pullen said in a statement. “We’ll address customers’ needs through our next-generation portfolio of products and services for the smart mobile Internet, including Tellabs Mobile Backhaul Solution, Tellabs Packet Optical Solution and professional services such as Tellabs Insight Analytics Services.”

Also, Tellabs has nearly $1 billion in cash and equivalent in research, so it’s still possible the company may seek new acquisitions this year.