www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions India (ALMSI), a JV between French telecom solution provider and Reliance Communication, the Indian mobile operator are close to inking 2-3 deals in as many months.
“The JV was formed initially to cater to the network operations need of Reliance Communications (RCom) alone. Now, we also plan to focus on business development opportunities in India and abroad,” Alcatel-Lucent India Head Vivek Mohan said.
Mohan added that the company was close to strike two-three deals in the network operation space, which might be announced in the next two-three months.
Though the details of the deal remain undisclosed, the source close to the development revealed that an agreement with Telecom New Zealand is round the corner.
Alcatel holds a 67% share in the JV whereas RCom holds the rest of 33%.
Sandip Biswas, Head of Managed Services, RCom said that the joint venture, at the time of its inception exactly one-year ago, had targeted to clock $500 million revenue over a period of five years.
“Now, we have increased it to $750 million and hope to even go past that target during the remaining period of five years,” Biswas added.
In its first year of operation, Biswas revealed that the JV has registered just over $100 million revenue which is likely to rise in the current year given that Reliance Communication was expanding its operations. Revenue from other prospective clients were also expected.

“The JV had started with CDMA and GSM operations and maintenance of five circles. Subsequently, we expanded the base to all 23 circles where RCom has operations,” he said.