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LM Ericsson AB, the world's largest wireless network maker, on
Wednesday said it had struck its largest deal to date, with a US$2
billion (€1.5 billion) network expansion contract from Bharti Airtel in
India.
Under the two-year supply and services contract, Ericsson said it
will design, plan, deploy and manage Bharti Airtel's GSM network across
15 areas of India. It will also include Bharti Airtel's pan-India
prepaid platform in 23 areas.
Ericsson said it already manages more than 70 percent of Bharti Airtel's networks.
Over the past year, India has emerged as the world's fastest-growing
mobile phone market, adding nearly 6 million new connections every
month. The rapid expansion of the country's telecom sector has created
new opportunities for companies with expertise in building
communication equipment and infrastructure.
Last week, Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent won a contract valued at more
than US$400 million (€290 million) from Reliance Communications Ltd.,
Bharti Airtel's immediate rival.
The first major contract from Bharti Airtel came to Ericsson in
2004, when it won a US$400 million (€290 million) deal to manage the
communication network of the mobile phone company — India's largest in
terms of subscribers.
Ties between the two companies have since become stronger.
Wednesday's deal will help Bharti execute its plans to expand in
rural areas that will drive future sales of mobile phone services in
the country.
Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/18/business/EU-FIN-COM-Sweden-Ericsson-Bharti.php
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