Ericsson, Zain in managed services agreement

Lagos - Ericsson Nigeria says former Zain Nigeria staff will become its employees effective August 1, 2009.

This is part of the five-year managed services agreement announced by both companies on Monday, June 8. Under the deal, Ericsson will be responsible for managing most of the network and field operations for Zain’s wireless networks and operational support systems, serving almost 4,000 sites across Nigeria.

Also as part of the agreement, about 450 employees will be transferred from Zain Nigeria to Ericsson under their existing terms and conditions of service, where they will undergo further development in the latest wireless technologies.

Mats Gustafsson, Managed Services Director of Ericsson Nigeria, revealed on Friday in Lagos that “the 450 Zain employees will become Ericsson staff as from the 1st of August, this year.”

Zain say this is a major initiative within its ACE (Accelerate, Consolidate and Expand) strategy that will propel it into the ranks of the world’s top-ten mobile telecommunications companies by the end of the year 2011.

“What you are seeing is just a confirmation of what we said in a release last month, as part of our restructuring exercise and to outsource some of our business to third parties,” said Emmanuel Otokhine, public relations manager of Zain Nigeria.

According to Mr. Gustafsson, Ericsson has more than 300 managed services contracts globally, of which more than 100 are made public. “We have the most experience in the telecommunications industry after delivering managed services for more than 15 years,” he said.

Ericsson is one of the world’s leading providers of technology and services to telecom operators. It is also one of the market leaders in 2G and 3G mobile technologies.

Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 275 million subscribers. The company’s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructures and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers.