The Hindu Business Line : Bharti in $125-m deal with Nokia for rural network expansion

BHARTI Tele-Ventures has signed a $125-million outsourcing deal with Finnish equipment major Nokia to expand and manage its cellular networks in eight circles.

As per the contract, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Bharti's Airtel networks in the rural areas of Mumbai, Maharashtra (including Goa), Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand) and Orissa over a three-year period.

Nokia has also been mandated to provide managed services and expand Airtel networks in the circles of Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, which until now were being managed by Siemens.

Bharti's cellular network in 15 other circles has already been outsourced to Swedish major Ericsson.

Nokia's managed capacity expansion will help Airtel cover more than 5,000 towns, up from 2,700, across India.

The phased expansion into these towns and villages starts immediately and is likely to be completed by March 2006.

"The expansion will double Bharti's network capacity, providing reduced congestion, seamless coverage and enhanced quality, to all Bharti customers.

"As part of the contract, Nokia will continuously deliver radio and core network equipment and services based on Bharti's capacity requirements, delivering a cost-efficient rollout of on-demand capacity," said a press release.

Nokia will also deploy its low cost Connect GSM Solution for expanding network coverage in rural areas in a cost-effective manner.

"This includes solutions for radio access, core network, network management systems and services that will reduce the total cost of ownership for Bharti and allow it to optimally target the low average revenue customer," said a company release.

Mr Manoj Kohli, President Mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures said, "Nokia, with its cutting edge technology and optimised network solutions for rural areas, will help us deliver economically viable services to the low revenue consumers."

Mr Ashish Chowdhary, India Country Director, Nokia Networks, said, "Our extensive managed services capability, combined with our comprehensive and high quality product portfolio, makes a strong business case for Bharti to provide affordable mobile services to these rural consumers."

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page