Telecom gear maker Sony Ericsson said that it has rejigged its European operations as a part of its global plan of aligning its resources.

The move, which is aimed at boosting its operational synergies, will see Austrian, Dutch, German and Swiss markets classified as one cluster, under the overall responsibility of Luc van Huystee who will be based at Sony Ericsson''s offices in Dusseldorf.

And the markets of Belgium, Luxembourg and France will form another under group under the overall responsibility of Pierre Perron, who is based at the company's offices in Paris.

The new roles assigned to Van Huystee and Perron will be added to their current roles.

“By grouping these important Western European markets, in this way, we are able to drive greater operational synergies, especially in how we can support our operator customers and consumers going forward. The changes announced today are part of our overall global plan to align our resources and become a leaner, stronger and more nimble organization,” said Kristian Tear, head of region Western Europe and global customer operations at Sony Ericsson.

However, the company’s current sales and marketing offices in these countries will to function as before and focus on further strengthening their relationships with operator customers and distributors.

Separately, Andrea Gaal, the current head of Sony Ericsson's market unit Austria & Switzerland, and Max van den Berg, the head of Sony Ericsson's market unit Benelux, will remain in their roles until the end of September 2009, where after they will assume new positions at Sony Ericsson.