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Nokia Siemens Networks selected for Greenfield managed services network rollout by IDEA Cellular


WEBWIRE

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Nokia Siemens Networks will build and operate Greenfield GSM network in Bihar
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Contract valued at more than $150m
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Agreement also covers GPRS and SMSC deployment in both Bihar and Mumbai networks

Nokia Siemens Networks today announced that it has won a US$150 million contract from IDEA Cellular Limited, a leading Indian GSM mobile services provider and an Aditya Birla Group company, to build and provide managed services for a Greenfield GSM network in Bihar. The three year contract includes supply of GSM / GPRS and Short Message Service Center (SMSC) equipment, network implementation, roll out project management, service for third party products and managed services.

As part of the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will not only provide managed services such as operating and maintaining network infrastructure but will also deliver project management services for roll out, supply and services of third party solutions, network implementation and care services. Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide IDEA Cellular with GPRS and SMSC equipment in the Mumbai circle. This is a reinforcement of Nokia Siemens Networks’ status as the sole supplier of GPRS and SMSC equipment to IDEA Cellular across all its circles.

Commenting on the partnership, Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, IDEA Cellular said: “Today’s announcement is yet another step in our efforts to build a pan India GSM network and take mobility to the huge untapped consumer base. Nokia Siemens Networks is our partner in growth and their technology expertise coupled with prior deployment experience in Bihar will be crucial in rolling out cost effective services quickly.”

The Bihar roll-out will see Nokia Siemens Networks deploy the latest state of art equipment like flexi BTS, mini-ultra base stations, Release 4 architecture, media gateways and MSS servers. The network will be ready for commercial operations by early 2008; subject to spectrum availability.

India is among the fastest growing telecom markets in the world and operators face a resource constraint environment concerning spectrum and people. As they have to grow to a large extend for many operators managed services are the best way to cope with this huge growth, improve efficiency, operational performance and see a predictability for costs while freeing resources to focus on their core, customer-facing activities. This is the 4th managed services contract for Nokia Siemens Networks in India, where it is the market leader in this business and runs a state-of-the-art Global Network Operations Center in Chennai.

On the occasion, Michael Kuehner, Head of India Sub-region, Nokia Siemens Networks said: “This contract reinforces our long standing partnership with IDEA and further strengthens our position as the dominant GSM equipment vendor to them. Nokia Siemens Networks’ extensive managed services capability, powered with a comprehensive and high-quality product portfolio makes us a catalyst for providing affordable mobile services to IDEA Cellular consumers”.

Ashish Chowdhary, global Head of Managed Services, Nokia Siemens Networks said: “Managed Services is the cornerstone of Nokia Siemens Networks’ strategy to develop India as the hub for its global services business. This contract further strengthens our managed services leadership in India as we will now provide services in 22 telecom circles in the country. Operators around the world, in developing and growth markets, will look at what is happening in India, and demand this sort of speed, cost and flexibility from us.”

In 2007, this is the second contract IDEA Cellular has awarded Nokia Siemens Networks, the previous one being a two year USD 500 million GSM network expansion contract to expand IDEA Cellular’s GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks to cover population centres across the six circles of Delhi, Haryana, UP East, UP West, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

About IDEA Cellular

As a leading GSM Mobile Services operator in India, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 13 circles. With a customer base of over 20 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, HP, and Kerala. IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers an estimated 60% of India’s telecom-market. IDEA also has licenses to operate in these service areas of Mumbai and Bihar.

IDEA is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US $24 billion corporation over a market cap. of US $23 billion and in the League of Fortune 500, anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow from its operations across the world. In India, the Group has been adjudged “The Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia” by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.
More about IDEA Cellular Limited at www.ideacellular.com

About Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of communications services. The company provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies with operations in 150 countries. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

Media Enquiries

Nokia Siemens Networks
Sangita Sanju
Communications, India
Phone: +91 (124) 2345100-133
Email : sangita.sanju@nsn.com

Christina Dinné
Services Communications
Phone: + 49 160 4758737
Email : christina.dinne@nsn.com



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