Aegis bags $2 bn deal from Saudi Telecom

Essar Group firm Aegis today said it has bagged a contract worth $2 billion from Saudi Telecom, under which the BPO major will manage entire customer care operations of the telecom firm.

As part of the deal, Aegis and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) will form an equal stake joint venture 'Call Centre Company (CCC)', which would provide customer care service to over 28 million STC customers in Saudi Arabia.

"The total contract value is about $two billion and the arrangement is for eight years as of now. This can be extended as well if required," Aegis MD and Global CEO Aparup Sengupta told reporters here.

In CCC, both the partners would have near equal stakes with STC holding 50 per cent plus one share, and Aegis the rest. Aegis would have operational control and responsibilities.

"Aegis would use some of the existing infrastructure of the STC in Riyadh and in Jeddah it will build its own centres," Sengupta said.

Talking about headcount, Sengupta said, "We are starting up with 5,000 employees and are planning to ramp up the team to 10,000 in next two years."

In the first phase, STC would transfer about 550 agents across two centres in Riyadh and Jeddah, and the balance 4,500 STC customer care agents would become part of the Aegis family over the next 18-24 months.

Besides targeting for other customers in Saudi Arabia, CCC would also be scouting for customer care opportunities in Bahrain and Kuwait.

"Time has now come for us to increase our focus on our core operations, which is providing next generation telecommunication service to our customers. We are happy to have found an able partner in Aegis, who we are confident would provide a great level of customer satisfaction to our valued customers, given their vast experience in managing customer experience across multiple geographies," STC Group CEO Saud Al Daweesh said.

Saudi Telecom owns and operates the largest telecommunications infrastructure, with investments in major terabit-size submarine cable systems passing through the region.

Aegis is a world-leading outsourcing services partner for more than 150 clients and with over two decades of leadership in total customer lifecycle management. The company has more than 50,000 employees across 47 locations, with a presence in 11 countries, serving verticals such as BFSI, telecom, healthcare, travel and hospitality, consumer goods, retail and technology.