Bharti inks 5-year agreement with Ericsson for Africa ops

Bharti Airtel today signed a five-year service management agreement with Ericsson for its Africa operations for an undisclosed amount.

As per the agreement, Ericsson will manage and optimise Airtel's mobile networks in Africa in order to provide a superior customer experience, Bharti said in a statement.

However, the company did not disclose the financial details of the five-year deal. "Ericsson has been our managed services and network technology partner in the Asian operations. Given its expertise and strong track record we are confident that this partnership will be able to efficiently deliver the best networks and services to our customers in Africa," Bharti Airtel CEO (International) & JMD Manoj Kohli said.

Under a separate two year agreement, Ericsson will modernise and upgrade Airtel's mobile networks in Africa with the latest technology. "This deal will allow us to assist Airtel with the complex task of managing operations in multiple countries. It also provides an opportunity for us to extend our managed services into new, untapped African markets. We will use our global expertise in this field to provide Airtel