Ericsson Bags Aircel’s 3G Network Contract

AIRCEL, India’s leading mobile operator (part of Maxis Communications, Malaysia), has awarded a contract to Ericsson to rolls out its 3G/HSPA network across six out of its 13 circles or geographic market areas.

The six Aircel circles wherein Ericsson provides 3G technology in are, Tamil Nadu, Bihar -Jharkhand, Orissa, Jammu Kashmir, North East and Assam .These six circles currently serve more than 100 million subscribers and Ericsson will be Aircel’s largest partner for 3G implementation.

Under the agreement with Aircel, Ericsson will provide core, radio and transmission network equipment as well as related services such as network rollout, network technology and consulting, radio network optimization and support services.

The mobile broadband network will include the latest multi-standard radio base station, RBS6000, and the MSC Server Blade Cluster, which will drastically boost the capacity of the network and evolve it into an IP network. The framework contract will be implemented from 2010 to 2012. Deliveries and deployment are underway. Aircel and Ericsson made the first successful 3G call last week in Chennai and Coimbatore .

Gurdeep Singh, COO of Aircel says: “For many people in India connected for the first time, 3G mobile broadband will bring completely new types of services and benefits. We are confident that with this partnership, we will benefit from Ericsson’s global expertise of 3G deployments, and will be able to offer our customers a world-class 3G experience.

Gowton Achaibar, head of Ericsson India , says: “We are extremely excited to partner with Aircel for the implementation of its 3G network. We foresee 3G brings economic advantages and increased social interaction in the country. With the advent of 3G, the mobile phone will not just be about convenience and satisfying a basic need for communication; it will also provide access to services such as healthcare, education and information, supporting people’s livelihoods.”

Aircel to roll out 3G services by early January

New Delhi: Telecom service provider Aircel on Friday said it is planning to launch 3G services in the country by early January next year.
“We will roll-out 3G services by early January 2011,” Aircel chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh told reporters here.
Aircel had bagged 3G spectrum in 13 out of the 22 telecom circles. Recently, Aircel had given contract for rolling out 3G network infrastructure to equipment maker Ericsson in six circles.
Other telcos, who got 3G spectrum, like Tata Docomo, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices had already launched the services. Besides, Tata, Airtel has also announced to launch its 3G services by the end of this year.
On the regulatory environment, Singh said that Aircel will comply with all government regulations. Recently, Trai is understood to have recommended to the telecom department that licences of Aircel in some circles should be cancelled as it had failed to meet the roll-out obligations.
Aircel, which has a pan-India operation with a subscriber base of over 48 million, said that it has not received any communication from the telecom regulator Trai or the telecom department on the subject.