Swedish-based telecom gear manufacturer Ericsson, has entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel which will see the former supply base stations and other equipment for the carrier’s 4G LTE network in India. What’s more, the European company is boasting about recently having bagged two contracts from Idea Cellular too.
Accordingly, Ericsson will be partnering with Idea over an Evolved IP Network (EIN) solutions data charging deal as well as a pact which consists of offering real-time charging for the network operator’s postpaid user base. No specific details about the agreement with the telecom brand have been given out.
With regards to the venture with Bharti Airtel, this is the first time such a partnership for launching services using FDD-LTE technology, has been witnessed in India. If you’re wondering just how big a firm you have to be in order to snag such deals, Ericsson has almost 45 percent share in the worldwide 4G LTE market, says The Economic Times.
Many companies may be interested in Ericsson’s modestly proportioned cell radio dot system paired with a multi-band indoor picocell, a setup which will iron out problems of 4G network coverage within buildings and similar enclosed spaces. But Airtel is also said to be keen on the Swedish brand’s prepaid self-care solutions.
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The contract that Ericsson has signed with Airtel supposedly includes backing the latter’s Night Store which lets customers pick from various offers on their prepaid numbers for Internet usage and local calling between 12am to 6am. Before this, the former had a tie-up with Vodafone India for managing the prepaid charging system for the service provider’s 75 million or so customers.
With the Airtel and Idea Cellular deals secure in its kitty, it looks like Ericsson is all set to make a big name for itself in the Indian telecom market before competitors join the party.