Bharti Airtel in Ericsson’s biggest network expansion deal

Ericsson and Bharti Airtel of India have signed one of the world’s largest network expansion deals, worth an estimated USD 2 bln. The state-of-the-art network will help Airtel offer world-class and cost-effective products and services to its customers, and help it expand its reach in rural India. It is Ericsson’s largest deal to date.

The deal includes expansion of Bharti Airtel’s GSM/EDGE network and providing capacity management.
Under the two-year supply and services contract, Ericsson will design, plan, deploy, optimize and manage Bharti Airtel’s GSM network across 15 circles in India as well as its pan-India pre-paid platform across 23 circles. Ericsson will also deliver pan-India integrated device management solutions, enabling usage of advanced data services by all mobile customers across retail and enterprise segments.

“The state-of-the-art network will allow us to offer more innovative products and solutions in the areas of voice and data such as community-based charging, location-based services and enterprise VPN services,” said Manoj Kohli, President and CEO, Bharti Airte.

The core network is based on Ericsson’s layered architecture that will pave the way to an all-IP environment, and includes a common 2G/3G core based on Mobile Softswitch; a robust Mobile Packet Backbone Network for data services; and a pan-India pre-paid platform using intelligent network technology to deliver innovative pre-paid services to users with the shortest time-to-market. This will also allow Bharti to charge differentially for both voice and data; and a state-of-the-art location-based services solution that will pave the way for unique location-based services and applications to be launched for the Indian consumer.

Ericsson has been a strategic partner of Bharti Airtel since 1995, and manages around 70% of its GSM/EDGE network in 15 circles in India. Ericsson’s nationwide charging solution caters to Airtel customers across all the 23 circles of Bharti Airtel.

Bharti Airtel is India‘s leading integrated telecom service provider, with a total of 42.68 mln customers, including 40.74 mln mobile customers.

The company’s broadband and telephone (B&T) division provides broadband and telephone services in 94 cities across high-speed optic fiber network currently spanning more than 40,000km. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connect two submarine cable systems: i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe.