(Reuters) - German industrial bellwether Siemens <SIEGn.DE> will speed up efforts to exit or cut its 50 percent stake in its telecom equipment joint venture with Finnish phone maker Nokia <NOK1V.HE>, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Siemens and Nokia will be free to take action regarding their stake in Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in April when a six-year shareholder agreement expires, following which Siemens would look to cut its stake in the venture to below 20 percent, the FT said, citing a person close to Siemens.

Siemens would ideally like a private equity investor or a consortium with a solid record in technology to take a controlling stake in NSN, the FT said on its website, citing the person close to Siemens.

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Dale Hudson)