Sweden’s Ericsson inks huge deal with US-based Sprint

Sweden’s massive communications company, Ericsson, has signed a deal with Sprint Nextel to take over the day-to-day management of the US telecom network. The 7-year contract is worth up to US$5 billion, and positions Ericsson strategically within the competitive US mobile provider industry.

Ericsson is the world’s biggest mobile phone network provider. It will now operate the American network of Sprint Nextel, who is the third-largest mobile operator in the US, with the help of their 6,000 employees who will start working for their new employer in the fall of this year, according to The Local.

A statement released by Ericsson says that Sprint will retain “full ownership and control of its network assets” while the Swedish firm will “assume responsibility for the day-to-day services, provisioning and maintenance for the Sprint-owned CDMA, iDEN and wireline networks.”

This deal will reportedly lower Sprint’s operating costs by 20 per cent, and help Ericsson expand in the process. “The move delivers operational efficiencies for Sprint while further expanding Ericsson’s network services business in North America,” Ericsson said in its statement reported by The Local. 

The move is the first time a foreign-owned company has cracked the North American telecoms market. Ericsson has its eye on other parts of the globe as well. Just days earlier, the company announced it had signed two contracts with Chinese mobile operators worth US$1.7 billion.

With the addition of Sprint, who services 50 million subscribers, Ericsson will now be managing more than 300 million mobile phone users worldwide.

Check the original article here.

Comments are closed.