Ericsson to Manage Vodafone India’s Optical Fibre Network

Sweden’s Ericsson, the world’s No 1 telecom gear maker, has bagged a three-year contract to manage Vodafone India’s optical fibre cable networks in 10 circles, spanning a distance of roughly 45,000 kms. The agreement covers operations and maintenance of Vodafone India’s optical fibre networks.

Paolo Colella, the Swedish gear maker’s Head of Region India, said Ericsson has been Vodafone’s partner in the radio, core and transport domains for many years. “This managed services agreement in India strengthens that partnership in a very important market and complements our collaborations in other parts of the world,” Colella said in media statement Thursday.

“At Ericsson, we continue to invest in tools, methods and processes in order to help our customers increase their network efficiency while delivering world-class subscriber experiences,” he added. Vodafone India CTO Vishant Vora said, “We have selected Ericsson as a partner to manage our optical fiber cable network, given its strength and experience in managing multi-vendor, multi-technology networks for operators globally and in India”. Vodafone India, which is the second largest mobile carrier in the country, has been lately expanding its 3G services to many new circles and also launched 4G-LTE services in five circles. It has more than 194 million subscribers in India.

Ericsson provides managed services for networks that together serve more than 1 billion subscribers worldwide. With the addition of Vodafone’s optical fiber network Ericsson will manage a total of 2,225,000 Kms of OFC and strengthen its existing fiber operations in India. The company plans to continue its focus on meeting the growing need for strong transport network.