Telecom network supplier Ericsson today announced its Small Cell as a Service deal with Reliance Communications.
Reliance Communications will be the first telecom operator in India to benefit from Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service business.
Ericsson provides small cell technology, designs, plans, builds and optimizes networks through its Small Cell as a Service offering. Ericsson, which competes with Nokia, Huawei and ZTE, manages them on behalf of its customers, based on long-term as-a-Service contracts.
Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service network will enable Reliance Communications, a telecom venture promoted by Anil Ambani, to utilize the existing Ericsson/Ozone Wi-Fi infrastructure, and launch Wi-Fi services using the small cell network.
Ozone Networks and Ericsson will benefit from additional utilization of their already-deployed Wi-Fi infrastructure.
“The surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone uptake has led to growth in data usage. This deal will enable us to meet the growing customer expectations in ultra-dense environments through data offload to a country-wide carrier-grade Wi-Fi network,” said Suresh Rangachar, president and Chief Commercial Officer, Reliance Communications.
Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service platform has the ability to seamlessly combine 3G/4G with carrier-grade Wi-Fi for mobile data offload, ensuring that Reliance Communications’ network capacity always exceeds demand to meet customer expectations.
Jean-Claude Geha, head of Managed Services at Ericsson, said: “Ericsson supports our customers’ targets of new revenues and subscribers throughout indoor venues and hot spots with the Small Cell as a Service model. Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service supports all technologies, from MuLTEfire with the Ericsson Dot solution to Cisco’s Wi-Fi solution.”
Vina Krishnan
editor@telecomlead.com