Tweet

Bharti Airtel signs five year managed services agreement with Ericsson for its Africa operations

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — (Marketwire) — 07/21/11 —

* Ericsson to modernize and upgrade Airtel-s networks in Africa

* Ericsson to provide Airtel customers the latest mobile technology that
enables the provision of mobile broadband services and applications

Bharti Airtel, (“Airtel”) a leading global telecommunications company with
operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa today announced a five
year managed services agreement with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) for its Africa
operations. As per the agreement, Ericsson will manage and optimise
Airtel-s mobile networks in Africa in order to provide a superior customer
experience.

Under a separate two year agreement, Ericsson will modernize and upgrade
Airtel-s mobile networks in Africa with the latest technology including its
multi standard RBS 6000 base station. Ericsson will deploy this superior 2G
and HSPA 3G technology to ensure that Airtel-s customers have an enhanced
voice and data experience. As part of the modernization, Ericsson will also
provide technology consulting, network planning & design and network
deployment.

Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel
said: “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. The new
generation equipment from Ericsson will help reduce our total cost of
ownership of the networks.”

Ericsson-s first multi-country Managed Services deal in Africa will enable
Airtel focus on its core operations of innovating and launching new
products, services and mobile applications for over 44 million customers
across the continent.

Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson is the industry
leader in managed services, managing networks for operators worldwide that
serve more than 800 million subscribers. 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-s customers with excellent service.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Bharti Airtel Limited

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with
operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers
mobile voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH,
turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long
distance services to carriers. Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six
best performing technology companies in the world by BusinessWeek. Bharti
Airtel had over 228 million customers across its operations at the end of
June 2011. To know more please visit,

About Ericsson-s Managed Services offering

Ericsson has the telecom industry-s most comprehensive managed services
offering. It ranges from designing, building, operating and managing day-
to-day operations of a customer-s network, including end-user services and
business-support systems, to hosting service-layer solutions and providing
network coverage and capacity on demand. As the undisputed leader in
managed services, Ericsson has officially announced more than 100 contracts
for managed services with operators worldwide since 2002. In all current
managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing
networks that together serve more than 800 million subscribers worldwide.

Hans Vestberg photos and bio

Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room:

Ericsson is the world-s leading provider of technology and services to
telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile
technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion
subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company-s
portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom
services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators,
enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint
ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the “prime driver in an
all-communicating world” through innovation, technology, and sustainable
business solutions. Working in 180 countries, more than 90,000 employees
generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded
in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on
NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

Press release PDF:

This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:

Source: Ericsson via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1532574]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail:media.relations@ericsson.com

Ericsson Investor Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 00 00
E-mail:investor.relations@ericsson.com