Zain, a leading telecom operator in the Middle East, has reportedly signed a network outsourcing deal with Sweden based Ericsson worth $650 million, in an attempt to improve the quality of its network.
According to reports, under the five year deal, Ericsson will manage Zain Iraq’s mobile network and IT operations and is the next step towards the operator launching third generation (3G) services. Further, Zain has reportedly said that the agreement covers Zain Iraq’s 3,700 network sites, including the Kurdish north where the operator recently launched commercial services, and will enable it to reduce operating costs and bring products and services to market quicker.
The operator claims that this agreement is a significant deal for Zain as it is expected to enhance the company’s competitiveness in the Iraqi market.