Telecom network vendor Ericsson India has signed a 7-year managed services deal with Reliance Communications to operate and manage wireline and wireless networks across India.
Earlier, Ericsson managed Reliance Communications’ telecom networks in north and west with a project cost of $1 billion. As per the new deal, Ericsson will handle the entire 22 circles.
Ericsson did not share the financial details of the new managed services contract.
The deal will be an important step for Reliance Communications that said its Q2 fiscal 2015 revenue increased 1.4 percent to Rs 5,287 crore, while net profit decreased 77 percent to Rs 153 crore on yearly basis.
ALSO READ: Reliance Communications Capex –27%, revenue +1%, profit –77%
Capex (capital spending) of Reliance Communications dipped 27 percent in Q2 fiscal 2015 to Rs 302 crore from Rs 415 crore in the prior quarter.
Telecom infrastructure of Reliance Communications, the billionaire Anil Ambani-promoted telecom operator, covers more than 150,000 km of fiber, 2G, 3G and CDMA mobile network, wireline access and enterprise network. It has presence in 21,000 towns and 400,000 villages.
Earlier, Alcatel-Lucent had an agreement with Reliance Communications. Since Alcatel-Lucent decided to cut down loss making businesses as per its Shift Strategy, the French company was not the front runner for the managed services deals in India.
As per the managed services deal, Ericsson, the # telecom network vendor in India, will take over responsibility for the field maintenance, network operations and operational planning of Reliance Communications’ 2G, CDMA and 3G mobile networks.
“This is the first pan-Indian managed services deal and will help us consolidate our managed services leadership in India,” said Magnus Mandersson, executive vice president and head of Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson.
Ericsson will streamline Reliance Communication’s operations by bringing fiber, mobile networks and wireline access networks to Reliance Communications’ wireless and Global Enterprise Business, across differentiated product lines. Ericsson will use Centralized Network Operations Center and bring in operational efficiencies and optimization.
Ericsson will be responsible for network operations, with the goal of increasing customer satisfaction and retention. Ericsson will work with Reliance Communications to identify opportunities to introduce new services and expand its existing businesses.
Suresh Rangachar, head of Commercial, Reliance Communications, said: “We are banking on the experience and technical expertise of Ericsson to improve the productivity of our network and ensure customer satisfaction and retention by delivering superior network performance and service quality at optimized costs.”
Baburajan K
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