Airtel renews managed services contract with Nokia (Africa, India)
Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, has extended its managed services contract with Nokia Siemens Networks for an additional five years. According to company reports, the contract covers Airtel’s network in eight circles consisting of Bihar and Jharkhand; Kolkata; Gujarat; Maharashtra and Goa; Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh; Mumbai; Orissa and West Bengal.
Under this five-year managed services contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will manage and maintain Bharti Airtel’s 3G and GSM networks as well as iWAN (internet Wireless Access Network), the operator’s enterprise broadband service. This next phase of managed services relationship will help Bharti Airtel achieve better network efficiency, simplify operations and deliver better quality services.
Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel has said that India started its journey of transformation from voice to data with the deployment of 3G.The data story in the country has just begun and they will witness increasing complexity due to multiplicity of network layers specifically when serving data. It is imperative for any service provider to have a complete end-to-end view to manage voice and data services. This initiative is in line with their strategy to create ubiquitous networks for offering enriched customer experience. Nokia Siemens Networks has been their long standing managed services partner and they are happy to continue their association further.
Ashish Chowdhary, head of customer operations Asia and Middle East, Nokia Siemens Networks said this deal will allow Bharti to simplify processes and improve end-to-end network and service performance. More importantly, stringent key performance indicators ensure they’re helping Bharti Airtel deliver an enhanced subscriber experience.
Safaricom disputes Regulator Report into Network Quality
Kenya’s Safaricom has disputed a quality of service survey findings published by the telecoms regulator last week, claiming that its own internal tests show its network is performing better than the regulator claims.
According to the company, a self-administered test undertaken using a methodology benchmarked by international standards gave it score way above what the industry regulator accorded it.
According to CCK previous reports, a countrywide Quality of Service (QoS) assessment on all the four mobile service providers gave Airtel the number one spot after it passed seven of eight parameters it used in measuring quality. Essar Telecom’s Yu brand was second, with compliance in four areas. The assessment found the quality of service offered by Safaricom and Telkom Kenya was the most wanting, with the two firms getting a score of three.
According to Safaricom chief executive, Bob Collymore, they are surprised at the timing of this announcement given that Safaricom and CCK were in discussions over the methodology used in the study.
While acknowledging that its network had issues, the company accused CCK for the poor quality network, claiming that the regulator had turned down its request for increased frequency spectrum that would increase capacity of its GSM network.
Collymore added that nonetheless, they recognize the challenges affecting our network, and they are working to ensure that all our 16 million-plus customers enjoy superior communication services.
Ericsson to expand TMIB’s network in Bangladesh
TM International Bangladesh (TMIB), a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, has selected Ericsson to expand its GSM/GPRS network in the Dhaka and Chittagong areas.Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide core and radio networks, and a range of telecommunication services, including installation, commissioning, optimisation and tuning. The deployment has started and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.Apart from being able to accommodate new subscriber growth on its network, the expansion is expected to provide TMIB’s subscribers better end-user experience in terms of network quality and performance.
TMIB operates in Bangladesh under the brand Aktel, which is a joint venture between Malaysia’s Telecom Malaysia International and the local AK Khan Group.
Source-http://www.digitalmediaasia.com
