Bharti Airtel, a global telecommunications company with
operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, announced a five year
managed services agreement with Ericsson for its Africa operations.
As per the agreement, Ericsson will manage and optimise
Airtel’s mobile networks in Africa in order to provide a superior customer
experience.
Under a separate two year agreement, Ericsson will
modernize and upgrade Airtel’s mobile networks in Africa with the latest
technology including its multi standard RBS 6000 base station.
Ericsson will deploy this superior 2G and HSPA 3G
technology to ensure that Airtel’s customers have an enhanced voice and data
experience. As part of the modernization, Ericsson will also provide technology
consulting, network planning & design and network deployment.
Ericsson has been our managed services and network
technology partner in the Asian operations. Given its expertise and strong
track record we are confident that this partnership will be able to efficiently
deliver the best networks and services to our customers in Africa. The new
generation equipment from Ericsson will help reduce our total cost of ownership
of the networks,” said Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & joint managing
director, Bharti Airtel.
Ericsson’s first multi-country Managed Services deal in
Africa will enable Airtel focus on its core operations of innovating and
launching new products, services and mobile applications for over
44 million customers across the continent.
Ericsson is the industry leader in managed services,
managing networks for operators worldwide that serve more than 800 million
subscribers. This deal will allow us to assist Airtel with the complex task of
managing operations in multiple countries. It also provides an opportunity for
us to extend our managed services into new, untapped African markets. We will
use our global expertise in this field to provide Airtel’s customers with
excellent service,” said Hans Vestberg, president and CEO, Ericsson.
By TelecomLead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
