Monday, June 8, 2009

Ericsson Wins Deal to Manage Zain Nigeria Network

Middle East and Africa operator Zain and Ericsson have entered a
five-year managed services agreement under which Ericsson will operate
Zain's nationwide GSM/WCDMA networks in Nigeria. Ericsson will be
responsible for the network and field operations, including
optimization, third-party vendor management for Zain's networks and
business support systems.

As part of the agreement, about 450 employees will be transferred,
under their existing terms and conditions of service, from Zain to
Ericsson, where they will undergo further training in the latest
wireless technologies. The contract gives Ericsson its first major
managed services footprint in Africa, and reflects its continued focus
on high-growth markets, where most subscriber growth is expected to
take place during the next five years.

Zain's agreement with Ericsson is expected to improve network
availability and capacity, make the most of Zain's network investment
and reduce operating costs for its 4,000 sites across Nigeria. The
contract is part of the mobile operator's Drive11 strategy to reduce
operating costs and further subscriber growth.

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