India’s Bharti Airtel awarded a contracted valued at US$2 billion to Ericsson. The deal is described as one of the world’s largest network expansion projects. It is Ericsson’s largest deal to date.
The two-year contract covers an expansion of Bharti Airtel’s GSM/EDGE network as well as capacity management. Specifically, Ericsson will design, plan, deploy, optimize and manage Bharti Airtel’s GSM network across 15 circles in India as well as for its pan-India pre-paid platform across 23 circles. In addition, 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 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 Mobile Packet Backbone Network for data services; and a pan-India pre-paid platform using intelligent network technology to deliver pre-paid services to users with the shortest time-to-market as well as to 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.
On the radio access side, Ericsson will supply products such as its main-remote design, the Flamingo series radio base station and the Expander solution. The core and access solutions will be supported by a network backbone for all transmission requirements through Ericsson’s MINI-LINK transport portfolio.
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