Pakistan mobile operator Warid Telecom Pvt. Limited (Warid Telecom) today launched its commercial GSM/GPRS service covering 28 major cities with a total population of around 32 million. Ericsson is the sole supplier for Warid Telecom’s network, which is being implemented under a Managed Services contract for Phase I of the network build.

Under the contract signed in September last year, Ericsson committed to providing a complete turnkey GSM/GPRS solution comprising the supply of core and radio network equipment, as well as a comprehensive range of telecom services covering complete network design, rollout and managed services encompassing full network operations and maintenance. Ericsson will also continue to manage the network beyond the commercial launch.

“This has been a partnership in a true sense of the word – Warid Telecom and Ericsson has worked tirelessly together and collaborated on all our efforts to ensure that we launch a network which is of the highest quality,” said Hamid Farooq, Chief Executive Officer of Warid Telecom.

Farooq also said that Warid Telecom was also pleased to be able to offer pospaid and prepaid services, short messaging service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS) to its customers from Day One, adding that this was only the beginning of many innovative offerings that Warid Telecom has in the pipeline.

“We want to be the operator that Pakistanis will choose to get best-connected in Pakistan. We want our customers to get the best technology, the most reliable network and widespread coverage, as well as high quality and exciting innovating services backed by unprecedented high levels of customer service. We would not be able to do this without a strong partner like Ericsson,” he added.

Hans Vestberg, Ericsson’s Executive Vice President, Business Unit Global Services and a member of Ericsson’s Group Management Team, echoed Farooq’s sentiments about the winning partnership between Ericsson and Warid Telecom.

“Ericsson has an unrivalled track record of working in close partnership with operators, sharing our expertise to support their networks and services. By working together in partnership, we are able to leverage on each other’s strengths, and gains in operational efficiency, time to market and quality of service are achieved,” he added. 

Zibber Mohiuddin, President of Ericsson Pakistan, said that Ericsson strongly supported Warid Telecom’s vision to bring high quality mobile communications services to all Pakistanis.

“Ericsson believes in an all-communicating world where telecommunication is affordable for all. Ericsson has leadership in technology and network solutions, backed by new innovative business and relationship models that are committed to turn the communication-for-all challenges into opportunities. Our aim is to make it possible for operators like Warid Telecom to rapidly reach more and more users in a profitable way. Our focus is on low Total Cost of Ownership for operators – making affordable communications to everybody a real possibility,” he added.

Ericsson is the world’s leading GSM supplier, with approximately 40 per cent market share. Ericsson has been instrumental in the creation, development, standardisation, deployment and growth of GSM, the world’s most widely deployed mobile standard.

Ericsson has the telecom industry’s most comprehensive managed services offerings, ranging from designing, building, operating and managing day-to-day operations of a customer’s network, to hosting service applications and enablers, as well as providing network coverage and capacity on demand. As the undisputed leader in managed services, Ericsson has officially announced 45 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002. In all current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve over 38 million subscribers worldwide

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.

Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press

About Ericsson Pakistan
Ericsson Pakistan has been supporting the telecommunications industry of Pakistan for more than 40 years, and has strong local knowledge and a well-established network of local contractors. Its long-term commitment to the country is underscored by a strong base of more than 350 highly skilled employees.

About Warid Telecommunications
Warid Telecom is owned by the Abu Dhabi Group which is led by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan. Apart from having a substantial shareholding in Bank Alfalah and United Bank Limited, the Abu Dhabi Group also has other international investments in the telecommunications, Finance, hospitality, Property, Oil exploration & supplies, and automobile industries.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Fariha Kaleem, Communications, Ericsson Pakistan
Phone: +92 51 2800 222 31/+92 333 528 9738

Alina Ibrahim-Eddy, Head of Communications, Ericsson South East Asia
Phone: +603-8314 6061/+6016 219 9988