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Bharti set to outsource more

Mansi Kapur in Mumbai | May 28, 2004 09:08 IST

Close on the heels of striking a $275-million deal with Nokia for management and maintenance of its network in five of its circles, Bharti TeleVentures is in talks with Siemens, Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia for a similar arrangement in three other circles.

Sources close to the development told Business Standard: "Bharti is evaluating among its existing partners for a managed services agreement for three of its remaining circles -- Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The decision will be announced in the next few weeks."

While its subscriber base of Kolkata is over 380,000, in Madhya Pradesh, Bharti has around 120,000 subscribers. It is planning to roll out its services in West Bengal in the next few months.

Currently Bharti has a similar tie-up with Ericsson for 15 of its circles and with the Nokia alliance, 20 of its circles will be covered.

About two months back, Bharti entered into an $400 million agreement with Ericsson for providing managed services for the next three years. The agreement, which was initially for 10 circles, will be extended to 15 circles.

The tie-up with Nokia, also for a duration of three years, includes supply, management and maintenance in Bharti's existing circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra (including Goa), Gujarat and two new circles of Bihar (including Jharkhand) and Orissa.

Meanwhile, Bharti is planning the roll out of its seven new circles by the end of this calendar year. They are West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, UP (East), Jammu & Kashmir, North East and Assam.

Bharti currently outsources switches and other equipment from Siemens and Motorola too.

Bharti is also planning to deploy EDGE technology in Mumbai by July. It will also offer this technology in Pune and Ahmedabad soon after the Mumbai deployment, as part of the first phase. In the second phase, the EDGE will be rolled out in cites like Vadodara and Nagpur.

Meanwhile, the $275 million deal with Nokia, Bharti sources said, would result in more than 1 million Airtel subscribers benefiting from congestion-free networks.

The network will provide seamless coverage and enhanced quality. The agreement also has a provision whereby Nokia will absorb close to 100 Bharti employees.


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