Nokia to run Hutch Essar networks for $60 mn

Hutchison Essar has entered into a five-year agreement with Nokia under which the Finnish company will run the former's networks in nine of its 13 telecom circles in India for $60 million.

Confirming the deal, Nokia, in a statement from Espoo, Finland, said documentation for the agreement was being finalised. The deal would "involve the (permanent) transfer of 600 Hutchison staff to its services business unit", it said.

Nokia is the supplier of GSM equipment in 9 circles of Hutchison Essar. This is the second instance of an Indian operator outsourcing network maintenance to a foreign equipment vendor "" Bharti Airtel Ltd has already outsourced the maintenance of its entire network in all its 23 telecom circles to Ericsson and Nokia.

Under the agreement with Hutchison, Nokia will provide an array of solutions including network planning, project management, configuration and optimisation, network operations and maintenance, and the administration of third party networks.

"Nokia will assume the operation of Hutchison Essar's networks in Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh (east and west), Rajasthan, Haryana and West Bengal, thus allowing the operator to focus more on its customers and core activities," the release added.

The move also implies that Nokia will become the first equipment vendor to service the networks of two competing operators.

Bharti's contract with Nokia covers eight telecom circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Jharkhand, Orissa, Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

"Nokia's managed service know-how, plus its proven track record when it came to operating and enhancing networks worldwide, were the key drivers in helping us take this decision," said Asim Ghosh, managing director, Hutchison Essar Ltd.