Telecom equipment and software major Ericsson has bagged a managed services deal from Turkcell.

As per the managed services deal, Ericsson will manage and operate Turkcell’s mobile and fiber-optic fixed network, covering all technologies including 2G, 3G and 4G.

Ericsson’s end-to-end engagement will include operations and maintenance, as well as expansion of Turkcell’s network.

Ericsson, which pioneered the telecom managed services industry about 15 years ago, is Turkcell’s exclusive managed services partner in the Marmara region, which includes Istanbul.

“Our cooperation with Ericsson extends beyond our requirements as a mobile network operator. At Turkcell, we continue to invest in both our current network and future technologies,” said Gediz Sezgin, senior vice president of Network Technologies at Turkcell.

Turkcell on 4G

In the first nine months of 2016, Turkcell continued 4.5G investments at full speed. With its 4.5G investments, Turkcell registered an operational Capex to sales ratio of 21.5 percent for the first nine months of the year.

4.5G customers have reached 19 million, while 22 percent of total data traffic has derived from its 4.5G network. With the contribution of 4.5G users, data usage per customer increased 61 percent to 2.6GB compared to last year.

Turkcell said its data and services & solutions revenues grew 76.5 percent through investments and increasing customer demand.

22 percent of our data traffic, which rose 23 percent for the quarter, came through 4.5G network. 4.5G subscribers consumed 2.1 times more data per month as compared to a non 4.5G user. Mobile broadband revenues grew 96.6 percent to TRY 1,430 million (TRY727 million).