Israeli mobile operator Partner Communications has announced that telecom equipment maker Ericsson ( News - Alert) would become the sole vendor to its third generation network.
As per the contract agreement, the Swedish telecom equipment maker will replace and expand third party 3G equipment existing in Partner's PTNR.TA network.
The deal is expected to result in a fixed asset write down to about 36 mln usd.
Partner hopes the deal will lead to higher operational and technological efficiency and enable it to cut operational cost considerably.
Partner Communications is a leading Israeli mobile communications operator providing GSM/GPRS/UMTS services to over 2.560 million subscribers in Israel.
Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide a full swap of 1400 base stations, expanding the capacity of channel elements for voice and data to support speeds of up to 14.4Mbps.
Ericsson will also provide a wide range of professional services, including business consulting, deployment and integration.
Ericsson will support and maintain other Ericsson elements in Partner's network as well.
The system deployment has started and is set to be completed by July 2011.
Partner, which operates under the Orange brand name, is 52.2 percent owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International ( News - Alert) Ltd., which is controlled by Hutchison Whampoa.
Ericsson has been the main supplier of Partner since 1998 with deliveries of GSM/WCDMA networks, including HSPA.
Alon Berman, Partner’s Vice President, Technologies, commented: Ericsson is leading solution will be used to converge our 2G and 3G core network. It will allow us to grow in a cost-efficient way and to introduce innovative services to a growing number of our customers.”
Bjorn Eisner, President of Ericcson Israel, commented: “This contract with Partner proves our technology leadership in the softswitching arena. It also strengthens our long-standing partnership and excellent relations with Partner.”
Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more Bhat’s articles, please visit his TMCnet columnist page.
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