Only one in three people in Bangladesh have access to a mobile phone, though mobile use in this country of 150 million people has been growing by a rate of more than 20 percent in recent years. This means Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s leading operator, has a huge potential for growth from its current subscriber base of more than 21 million.

Ericsson’s modernization of their installation within Grameenphone’s core network means the operator will be well prepared for the future by increasing network capacity while reducing operating costs and improving quality of service for its customers. The two-year contract also includes charging solutions and related services.

Oddvar Hesjedal, CEO of Grameenphone, says: “Bangladesh presents tremendous opportunities for growth. Ericsson’s advanced technology will optimize our network operations and strengthen our ability to evolve and expand our business while preparing our network for future needs.” 

Håkan Rusch, Managing Director of Ericsson Bangladesh, says: “This agreement demonstrates Ericsson’s commitment to cultivating long-term, strategic relationships with the aim of creating a competitive advantage for our customers. Mobile penetration in Bangladesh is expected to grow considerably in the coming years. We are honored to provide Grameenphone with the technology that will prepare them for cost-effective growth and the arrival of mobile broadband.”

Under the agreement, Ericsson will upgrade their installation of Grameenphone’s packet-switched and circuit-switched core network. This includes implementing the latest Mobile Softswitch Solution, along with the new MSC Server Blade Cluster and the Service Aware Packet Core – enabling  differentiated service charging and fair usage policies for mobile data services.

The MSC Server is the main node in a mobile core network that is used to control the switching of voice traffic. With the new MSC Server Blade Cluster, network capacity can be increased by more than one million subscribers by simply inserting a new blade (electronics board) in the MSC Server cabinet. This innovative design supports ultra-high capacity and easy network scalability, providing significant cost savings for mobile operators.

The upgrade to the latest release of Ericsson´s convergent real-time charging system, Charging System 4.0, will provide flexible pricing and campaign possibilities. It will enable revenue growth and cost efficiency for the operator and more attractively priced services for subscribers.

The contract also covers the upgrade of Grameenphone’s GSM radio access network and the supply, deployment and systems integration of Ericsson’s Mobile Packet Backbone Network solution.

Ericsson Corporate Public and Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com

The MSS handles switching of mobile voice calls in circuit-switched core networks. It comprises two different nodes: the Mobile Media Gateway (M-MGw) and the Mobile Switching Center Server (MSC-S). The MSC-S is the node controlling the handling of voice calls and text messages as well as other services such as conference calls, fax and circuit-switched data. The M-MGw provides distributed switching by connecting mobile calls locally to other mobiles and landlines. Ericsson's solution is fully standards-compliant, offering cost-efficient and low-risk evolution of existing circuit-switched networks to a telecom-quality, IP-based service platform that supports next-generation services. Ericsson is the leading vendor of mobile softswitch solutions; 50 percent of all GSM and WCDMA softswitched calls globally are run via Ericsson MSS. By March 2009 more than 260 networks were in commercial service in more than 110 countries.

The new MSC Server, called MSC-Server Blade Cluster, is an innovative product that employs highly scalable and efficient blade technology. Network capacity can be increased by more than one million subscribers by simply inserting a new blade (electronics board) in the MSC Server cabinet. It provides ultra-high capacity, supporting more than 8 million subscribers with only two cabinets. It can reduce space requirements by a further 90 percent and server energy consumption by a further 60 percent per subscriber, compared with Ericsson’s current server generation. Combined with the MSC-pool concept, an architecture that enables multiple MSC Servers to act as one “Mega MSC Server,” any capacity can be supported in a circuit-switched network.

Ericsson’s Charging System 4.0 is the latest release of Ericsson’s market leading real-time charging system. It enables service providers to handle the charging of all services and users in real time using flexible price and discount models.  Prices, bonus and discounts are determined and communicated to subscribers in real-time as part of service delivery. It is based on a modular architecture with open interfaces and scalability in all parts of the system, contributing to opex and capex reductions. Ericsson Charging System is currently being used by more than 155 operators serving more than 750 million subscribers in real-time.