Idea expands managed services agreement with Ericsson

Networking gear maker Ericsson today said it has signed an agreement with Idea Cellular to provide managed services in five Indian telecom circles.

The circles include Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East, and Assam.Financial details, however, were not disclosed.

Under the three-year agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for managing network and field operations, maintenance activities for 2G and 3G sites, network design and planning, network performance improvement, and programme management for infrastructure.

As part of the agreement, about 70 Idea employees will join Ericsson India.

"We are confident that this alliance will enable us to optimise our networks and deliver the best services to our customers. This deal will allow us to focus on creating competitive, attractive and appealing offerings for our consumers," Idea Cellular Managing Director Himanshu Kapania said.

Ericsson's first managed services contract with Idea was signed in 2007 and the partnership between the two companies has now been extended from one circle to five circles, Ericsson said.

Ericsson has been developing its ICT competence at its Global Service Center (GSC) in India.

 This GSC, which is now Ericsson's largest network operation center in the world and has more than 5,000 professionals covering all areas of its services portfolio.

The GSC will play a key role in managing Idea's network, the statement said.

"We aim to use our considerable resources in India to optimise Idea's networks, thereby ensuring the availability of superior quality services for their subscribers. We welcome the employees who are joining us from Idea," Ericsson President and Head of Region India Fredrik Jejdling said.

Managed services is one of the fastest-growing areas in the telecom industry and with this association, Ericsson will gain valuable competence to help build the services business further, Jejdling added.