Telecom Lead Middle East: Iraq telecom operator Korek has
awarded a managed services contract to Ericsson.
Ericsson will provide provisioning and field maintenance
services including day-to-day services for Korek’s network in Baghdad.
The telecom equipment major will help Korek achieve
optimal network stability for 99.999 percent of its radio base station and
microwave sites while finding better efficiencies by focusing on its core activities
which include network quality assurance, customer satisfaction as well as
business and strategy development.
Counting on Ericsson for our Network Field Maintenance
comes as part of our strategy to focus on providing our customers with the
highest network performance quality while at the same time prepare the network
for the future to cater for the growing demand on data and telecom services in
the country,” said Ghada Gebara, CEO of Korek.
The three-year agreement marks an extension of a
relationship between Ericsson and Korek, during which they have worked closely
on several projects which include the deployment of a billing post-paid system
for Korek customers and the preparation of the telecom operator’s network for
3G and LTE.
We are aware that one of the most important aspects that
need to be taken into consideration during the deployment of any project is
scalability and the ability for the operator to cope with the changes in the
industry. With the rise of competitiveness of the telecom sector in Iraq
nowadays, we are sure that this agreement will strengthen Korek’s competitive
edge which will, in turn, help improve the quality of services and the end-user
experience,” said Tarek Saadi, president and Head of Ericsson North Middle
East.
Globally, Ericsson has signed more than 300 managed
services contacts in more than 100 countries out of which are 70 contracts in
2011 only. Ericsson manages networks on behalf of operators that service over
900 million subscribers worldwide.