Etisalat Nigeria, a leading telecoms operator in the country, has renewed managed services contract with Nokia Networks for three more years with expanded services scope.
Under the contract, Nokia Networks will manage the mobile operator’s 3G and GSM networks and improve network efficiency, ensuring the best possible mobile broadband service experience for end users, both companies said.
Nokia Networks says it has provided managed services to Etisalat Nigeria since 2008. With Nigeria and Etisalat being a main focus in Nokia Networks’ strategy in Middle East and Africa (MEA), the company said it is helping the operator and the country provide world class mobile broadband services.
“In line with Etisalat’s strategy to be the best quality of service operator in Nigeria and to improve the operational efficiency, we have signed a new managed services agreement with Nokia Networks,” said Matthew Willsher, CEO, Etisalat Nigeria.
According to Willsher, “compared to the previous managed service model, the new agreement covers end-to-end operations and maintenance management for all network elements at Etisalat sites. It has also improved Network Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) according to global best in class standards. Nokia Networks has met our requirements with its delivery capability to achieve our strategy; therefore we have renewed the contract with the company.”
Igor Leprince, Senior Vice President and Head of MEA, Nokia Networks says “Renewal of this contract underlines Etisalat’s confidence in our managed service capabilities in ensuring smooth network operations and maintenance. Our strength in the global scale and expertise to manage complex networks will continue to help Etisalat Nigeria provide the best service experience for its customers. Our further increased focus on innovation and standardization of processes and tools as well as six sigma quality training in our global delivery centers will help our operator customers worldwide including Etisalat transform their network quality and operational efficiency at reduced operational cost.”
Under the scope of the contract, Nokia’s managed services capabilities such as network planning and optimization, operations and maintenance services as well as care services will be provided to Etisalat Nigeria to manage its GSM and 3G networks. Nokia’s NetAct network management system will monitor, manage and optimize the operator’s multi-technology networks.
“This deal hits a large number of evolving managed services sweet spots, including the need for strong service performance, customer experience, security and optimization in what is an increasingly multi-vendor and multi-technology environment,” said Kris Szaniawski, Lead Analyst, Intelligent Networks, Ovum. “As the telecom network services industry experiences a second wave of managed services contracts, we see increased pressure on existing managed services relationships to become more customer-focused and deliver improved service quality. As a consequence there are significant opportunities for vendors such as Nokia Networks to deepen and strengthen their relationships with operators and position themselves as close strategic partners.”
