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Brief
Airtel signs $2 bn expansion deal with Ericsson
One of the largest telecom deals ever, and the largest by
Ericsson India, it will assist Airtel in expanding its reach to rural areas.
By Neeraj Gandhi
Mats Granryd, MD, Ericsson India and Manoj Kohli, President & CEO,
Bharti Airtel ink the deal |
Bharti Airtel has awarded a $2 billion network expansion contract
to Swedish major Ericsson for the expansion of its GSM/EDGE network and providing
capacity management. Under the contract Ericsson will also deliver pan-India
Integrated Device Management Solutions.
Being termed as the largest ever telecom deal for equipment
in the country, it is the largest ever signed by Ericsson India. As per the
contract Ericsson will design, plan, deploy, optimise and manage Airtel’s
GSM network across 15 circles in India, and its pan-India prepaid (IN) platform
across 23 circles over a two-year period. This will help Airtel expand its reach
in rural India.
“This partnership with Ericsson will allow Bharti Airtel
leverage Ericsson’s global expertise to enhance its networks. The state-of-the-art
network will further allow us to offer more innovative products and solutions
in the areas of voice and data like community-based charging, location-based
services and enterprise VPN services,” says Manoj Kohli, President &
CEO, Bharti Airtel.
The core network expansion, the central part of the telecom network, will see
deployment of common 2G/3G based Mobile Softswitch, Mobile Packet Backbone Network
(Mobile PBN) for data services; and a pan India pre-paid platform using IN (Intelligent
Network) technology to deliver innovative pre-paid services to users and to
allow Bharti to charge differently for both voice and data; and a location-based
service for a unique location-based services and applications.
On the radio access side, which is essentially 2G, Ericsson will deploy its
OPEX-saving solution such as Main-remote Design, Flamingo Series Radio Base
Station and Expander solution. This will help Airtel’s network expansion
in the rural areas.
“This contract is an important part of realising Bharti’s vision of
a converged network and of expanding coverage in rural India to launch innovative
voice and data services for the Indian consumer,” says Mats Granryd, Managing
Director, Ericsson India.
Ericsson has been a strategic partner of Bharti Airtel since 1995, and manages
around 70 percent of its GSM/EDGE network in 15 circles in India. Ericsson’s
nationwide charging solution (IN) caters to Airtel customers across all 23 circles
of Airtel Bharti.
Earlier this month Bharti had inked a $900 million deal with Nokia Siemens Networks
for the expansion of its mobile, fixed line, and intelligent network platform.
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