14 DAY TRIAL // Vodafone Essar has announced today the completion of a rapid expansion of its services across seven new regions in India, and the infrastructure service provider that made this possible was Nokia Siemens Network. Mobile phone users in India who live in or will travel to Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East and Orissa will be able to enjoy Vodafone's services in these areas.
According to the second largest GSM carrier in India, Nokia Siemens Networks is already its partner in 12 regions and it managed to roll out the new networks in only 10 months. In addition, the operator also stated that this was only the first phase of a three-year contract with the infrastructure vendor, and that the two companies would work on further expansions that would be carrier on through 2010.
It seems that Nokia Siemens Networks is already known for its capability to roll out networks in record times. The recently completed expansion of Vodafone's network in India shows that the company can indeed perform speedy deployments, as it managed to roll out 5,000 base stations a month in the country. The company is at the moment the largest network implementation partner for Vodafone in India, as the vendor has set up infrastructure that serves more than 80 percent of the wireless carrier’s subscriber traffic in the country.
“We are proud to partner with Vodafone Essar as it charts an aggressive growth strategy and are committed to helping it realize its goals,” said C B Velayuthan, head of Vodafone Customer Team, Nokia Siemens Networks. “India’s vast geography and varied topology, in addition to the acute power shortage in remote areas, make network expansion a challenging task. Our Flexi Base Station and services capabilities are the ideal solution for service providers who want to achieve more, with less.”