The agreement with Bharti Airtel is an extension of an existing managed services agreement between the two companies, and the deal with Idea Cellular will see the vendor roll out 3G services in Delhi.
Airtel and Ericsson’s two-year extension solidifies their working relationship, and will see the latter manage Airtel’s 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, intelligent network, LAN/WAN and Wifi technologies in 15 circles across India.
“We are committed to helping Bharti Airtel enhance customer experience and maximise operational efficiencies,” said Chris Houghton, head of Ericsson’s region India.
For Idea Cellular, Ericsson will implement services such as network design, roll-out support and managed services, as well as supply microwave equipment for cost-efficient packet transport and 2G/3G radio access networks (RAN).
The 3G network in Delhi will be deployed in the 900MHz band, which is particularly suited to improving indoor app coverage.
“Data subscribers today are increasingly demanding better network quality and superior services,” Houghton said. “We look forward to working closely with Idea to expand its 2G and 3G network rapidly, and deliver superior digital experience for its customers in Delhi.”
And Himanshu Kapania, managing director at Idea Cellular, expects the partnership with Ericsson to do just that.
“3G services and the upgrade of 2G networks will enable us to improve voice coverage and provide higher-quality services to our customers for mobile apps and services,” Kapania said.
