|
Bangalore
July 20th, 2007
Bharti Airtel has awarded Ericsson an estimated 2 billion expansion contract,
including expansion of its GSM/EDGE network and providing capacity management.
The deal will allow Bharti Airtel to expand its reach into rural areas thereby
further consolidating its leadership position. This is one of Ericsson's largest
deals to date.
Under the two-year supply and services contract, Ericsson will design, plan,
deploy, optimize and manage Bharti Airtel's GSM network across 15 circles in
India as well as for its pan-India prepaid (IN) platform across 23 circles. In
addition, Ericsson will also deliver pan-India Integrated Device Management
Solutions, enabling usage of advanced data services by all mobile customers
across retail and enterprise segments.
Manoj Kohli, President&CEO, Bharti Airtel, says: "Our partnership
with Ericsson allows us to focus on delivering a better customer experience
leveraging Ericsson's global expertise to enhance our 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. Bharti and
Ericsson is also looking at forming a focus group to work on energy optimization
by way of introducing energy efficient equipments and alternate energy sources,
" he added.
Mats Granryd, MD, Ericsson India, says "This contract is an important
part of realizing 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. We are honored that Bharti Airtel has chosen to partner with us
in this grand venture that underpins our strategy of providing communications
for all through sustainable and innovative solutions." Page(s) 1
| 
