Ericsson in Small Cell as a Service deal with Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications internet
Telecom network supplier Ericsson today announced its Small Cell as a Service deal with Reliance Communications.

Reliance Communications will be the first telecom operator in India to benefit from Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service business.

Ericsson provides small cell technology, designs, plans, builds and optimizes networks through its Small Cell as a Service offering. Ericsson, which competes with Nokia, Huawei and ZTE, manages them on behalf of its customers, based on long-term as-a-Service contracts.

Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service network will enable Reliance Communications, a telecom venture promoted by Anil Ambani, to utilize the existing Ericsson/Ozone Wi-Fi infrastructure, and launch Wi-Fi services using the small cell network.

Ozone Networks and Ericsson will benefit from additional utilization of their already-deployed Wi-Fi infrastructure.

“The surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone uptake has led to growth in data usage. This deal will enable us to meet the growing customer expectations in ultra-dense environments through data offload to a country-wide carrier-grade Wi-Fi network,” said Suresh Rangachar, president and Chief Commercial Officer, Reliance Communications.

Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service platform has the ability to seamlessly combine 3G/4G with carrier-grade Wi-Fi for mobile data offload, ensuring that Reliance Communications’ network capacity always exceeds demand to meet customer expectations.

Jean-Claude Geha, head of Managed Services at Ericsson, said: “Ericsson supports our customers’ targets of new revenues and subscribers throughout indoor venues and hot spots with the Small Cell as a Service model. Ericsson’s Small Cell as a Service supports all technologies, from MuLTEfire with the Ericsson Dot solution to Cisco’s Wi-Fi solution.”

Vina Krishnan
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