Telecom Lead India: Telecom equipment maker Avaya has
signed a five-year deal to build call centers for Bharti Airtel in Asia and
Africa.
The two companies have been working together on call
centers in India for a number of years, but with the new deal Avaya will also
implement its technology for Airtel in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and 18 African
countries.
Airtel in 2010 acquired the African operations from
Kuwaits Zain in a $9 billion deal that made it the fifth-biggest cellphone
company by subscribers.
Avaya’s technology will support over a billion calls a
year and include video and social media capabilities in the call centers.
It is the largest deal we have ever done. Avaya signed
the deal in March,” said Ed Nalbandian, head of Avayas managed services and
contact center solutions.
Previously, the largest deal Avaya had in the global
contact center space was $75 million with a manufacturing company.
After five years Airtel has the option to choose a new
vendor.
By outsourcing its call center transformation Airtel
could leverage Avayas experience in this area to assure a smooth transition
with minimal customer impact while Avaya could legitimize itself as an
outsourcing company.
The company has been trying to transform its services
business for years and this is a strong proof point for them.
Avaya to acquire RADVISION for $230 million
Avaya last month agreed to buy Israel’s Radvision as part
of its strategy to shore up its video conferencing capabilities.
Rajeev Mittal joins Avaya from Microsoft to lead India and
SAARC business
Avaya has appointed Rajeev Mittal as managing director of
India and SAARC. Rajeev joins Avaya from Microsoft India.
The appointment of Mittal is happening at a time when
companies throughout the region are looking to accelerate their businesses with
the latest communications and collaborations offerings.
Airtel signs ZTE as telecom equipment partner for the first 4G
service in India
Recently, Bharti Airtel selected ZTE Corporation as its
telecom equipment partner for the 4G network launch in Kolkata. The TD/LTE
service launch will offer high speed wireless internet access that can
support bandwidth intensive applications, support video streaming and
high-definition video conferencing.
