GrameenPhone Ltd., the largest telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, has selected Ericsson’s hosting solution to support the launch of its EDGE/GPRS services. Under the managed services contract, Ericsson will not only host and integrate the platform, but will also be responsible for around-the-clock operations and maintenance of these hosted applications.
Among the applications that will be hosted by Ericsson through this hosting contract include peer-to-peer multimedia messaging service (MMS), video download, ringtone and WAP portal hosting.
“By choosing a hosting solution, we are able to reduce the time-to-market and cost-efficiently introduce new services and content to our customers, which are enabled by our EDGE/GPRS network,” says Erik Aas, the CEO of GrameenPhone.
“Being the first operator in the country to launch EDGE/GPRS services, we wanted to ensure that the services offered to our customers are of the highest quality, and that they will get the best experience when using them,” he said, adding that this move was in line with GrameenPhone’s strategy to maintain its leadership in the country in terms of subscriber base, coverage and services offered.
At present, the GrameenPhone EDGE/GPRS service covers Dhaka and Chittagong. Ericsson is the sole supplier for the supply, installation and commissioning of the telecommunications equipment and solutions for GrameenPhone’s EDGE/GPRS network, which include the supply of base stations and switches.
“We are proud that GrameenPhone has selected Ericsson as their partner in this important milestone in launching the country’s first data service. Our partnership with them goes back to 1997, when Ericsson became GrameenPhone’s first infrastructure partner for the design, deployment and integration of their GSM network,” says Jan Signell, President of Ericsson South East Asia.
“The launch of GrameenPhone’s hosted services adds a new dimension to our partnership, as we are now involved in supporting GrameenPhone at the service layer as well. This is part of our long-term commitment towards supporting GrameenPhone’s goals, not just in network evolution and efficiency, but in revenue and business growth as well,” Signell adds.
Ericsson has officially announced 25 hosting contracts globally and has seven operation centers around the world delivering managed services to operators, of which two are located in Asia Pacific (Singapore and Sydney).
In another development, Ericsson has also been chosen as GrameenPhone’s partner for its network expansion plans. Under a services contract, Ericsson will undertake civil works and telecom implementation of approximately 500 sites for both Greenfield and rooftops in three regions.
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Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Azlyn Abd Rahman, Media Relations, Ericsson South East Asia
Phone: +60 8314 6066 or +6016 336 3327
About Ericsson Bangladesh
Ericsson AB, Bangladesh started its operation in the country in 1997. With staff strength of 100, it is presently the country’s largest end-to-end telecommunications solutions provider with complete in-country expertise and support team.
About Ericsson's managed services offering
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 more than 45 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002. In all its current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve more than 38 million subscribers worldwide.
