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Bharti to seal network deal with Ericsson

IT'S WIN SOME, LOSE SOME FOR SWEDISH MAJOR

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Bs Reporters Mumbai/New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 05 2013 | 1:36 AM IST
Bharti Airtel, the country's second-largest telecom services company, is close to inking a deal with Ericsson for managing and expanding its network.
 
The deal, which is expected to be valued between $1 billion and $2 billion, will be announced in a few days.
 
The deal with Ericsson closely follows the telecom operator coming closer to winning a scaled down version of the controversial Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) mega-GSM order.
 
Ericsson, which was the lowest bidder for the 45.5 million lines order, is expected to be called for price renegotiation by the BSNL board but for a much smaller order now.
 
When asked about the deal, Akhil Gupta, joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, merely said "no comment". Ericsson executives also declined to comment.
 
The deal is believed to be spread over three years and will involve implementing and managing the GSM major's network in 15 circles in the country.
 
A few weeks ago, Bharti Airtel had awarded a $900 million (Rs 3,690 crore) network expansion contract to global communications services provider Nokia Siemens Networks.
 
Bharti is not new to Ericsson. In June 2005, the Swedish company had signed a $250 million deal for managing capacity in rural India for Bharti Airtel networks.

 

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