You are here:

GSMFavorites.com > Press Releases > 2005-01

Press Releases - Januari 2005

Ericsson and H3G Italy sign exclusive five year managed services contract

Date: Thursday, January 20 2005 - The GSM Association (GSMA) welcomes the news that the recommendations of the Indian Regulator (TRAI) stay within the Indian government’s established policy of global spectrum harmonisation for 3G services, contained in their Spectrum Policy (NFAP 2002). This ensures that India retains alignment with the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) IMT2000 core (2GHz) band for 3G services. Ericsson has signed an exclusive managed services contract with H3G Italy of the Hutchison Whampoa Group. Under the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for the overall management of H3G Italy's 3G network.

H3G Italy, part of one of the world's largest 3G operators and with over 2.6 million subscribers in Italy, has chosen Ericsson as a strategic partner for the total management and development of its multi-vendor 3G network in Italy. The contract also contains optimization of assets, management of H3G Italy's advanced 3G-multimedia service environment, including management of the service layer and business support systems.

The agreement will deliver increased efficiency and cost savings of about 250 million euro in a five year period for H3G Italy, supporting the operator's further expansion in the promising area of 3G multimedia and video services in Italy. H3G Italy will now be able to focus even more on providing attractive, new services along with supreme quality of service to its subscribers.

"The solution put in place together with Ericsson, allows us to increase the value of the network and IT assets, the know-how and the work developed in UMTS up to today," underlined H3G Italy's CEO Vincenzo Novari. "We will also achieve an improved cost structure and better efficiency in generating the resources necessary for the development of our business, guaranteeing the quality desired by our customers. The partnership will safeguard the people, know-how and competencies, which will become part of the global leader in network infrastructure and telecommunication services, creating a reference point for the global market."

"We are proud to work with such an advanced customer as H3G Italy, who in a very short time have been able to attract over 2.6 million subscribers," says Hans Vestberg, Senior Vice President, Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson. "This is the largest managed services contract we have signed to date and also one of the largest agreements ever signed by Ericsson. The deal further strengthens our global leadership and reinforces the trend toward managed services, in which operators and vendors work as partners to reduce costs, improve network quality, optimize assets and bring new services to market as quickly as possible."

The agreement includes transfer of some 750 employees from H3G Italy to Ericsson, which will complement Ericsson's advanced service organization in Italy. The due diligence phase starts immediately and is expected to be concluded within two months. Ericsson will assume responsibility during the second quarter of 2005.

"We are honored to support H3G Italy in becoming even more successful on the Italian market providing attractive and innovative consumer services," says Cesare Avenia, Head of Market Unit Italy, Ericsson. "By entering this managed services partnership with Ericsson, H3G Italy will benefit from Ericsson's local resources, global expertise, world-class methods, tools and processes for managing multi-vendor and multi-technology networks."

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Ericsson chosen by Telstra to supply 3G network

Date: Friday, January 7 2005 - Ericsson has been selected as the exclusive 3G/WCDMA vendor to Telstra for up to the next five years. The estimated value of the framework agreement is more than USD 78 million (100M AUD) over the term. Ericsson will supply layered architecture core and radio access network equipment, including HSDPA and network rollout services.

These contracts complement the Telstra-Hutchison 3GSM network sharing arrangement which gives Telstra access to a fully optimised, fully operational network across five capital cities from 1 July 2005, and provides a way forward to increase 3GSM coverage as demand requires.

"We had a number of very high quality and competitive tenders to assess, but at all times we had to consider who could provide the best overall solution for Telstra," said Ted Pretty, Telstra Technology Innovation and Product Group Managing Director.

"Ericsson has worked in partnership with Telstra for many decades with their fixed and mobile networks, applications and services," said Barry Borzillo, Managing Director for Ericsson Australia and New Zealand. "We are very pleased to help Telstra drive industry growth with this major network investment decision."

In Australia, Ericsson also supplies and delivers the integrated infrastructure for the Hutchison 3G Australia network, 3.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.