Nokia Siemens, Ericsson to help Voda’s 3G rollout

Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland-headquartered Nokia Siemens Networks will roll out 3G networks for Vodafone Essar, one of the largest service providers in India.

By ET Bureau | Oct 15, 2010, 01.32 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland-headquartered Nokia Siemens Networks will roll out 3G networks for Vodafone Essar, one of the largest service providers in India. Vodafone gave a three-year contract estimated at $500 million, on Wednesday, to the gear manufacturers who are also the company’s existing equipment vendors. ET had reported this development a month ago.

Nokia Siemens Networks will implement and manage Vodafone’s 3G networks in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East), rest of West Bengal and Haryana while Ericsson will cover the high-density metros of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. With the implementation of the 3G roll out, more than 113.8 million Vodafone users will be able to avail high-end services such as video calling, interactive gaming and high-speed internet on mobile phones by late December. Various telcos are placing equipment contracts collectively worth $3 billion.

A few weeks ago, Bharti Airtel gave a 3G network rollout contract to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies, estimated by the industry to be around $700 million. The two Chinese vendors, Huawei and ZTE, will also rollout 3G services for RCOM across 13 circles.

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