By Emeka Aginam

Alcatel-Lucent, leader in mobile, fixed, IP and optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services has been selected by Etisalat Nigeria to continue providing managed services for their expanding mobile network. With this development, Alcatel-Lucent will continue supporting Etisalat Nigeria’s network transformation by developing and delivering new end-user services as required to meet its customers’ growing demands.

The renewed two-year multi-vendor managed services agreement, according to Alcatel, will significantly reduce operational expenses, while improving service quality for Etisalat Nigeria’s subscribers.

With the new development, Alcatel-Lucent will be responsible for ensuring the high quality and reliable performance of the network in the South-West of the country including Lagos by providing world class services which include network operations, consulting, design, network optimization, spare parts management, maintenance services, and project management.

By outsourcing the day-to-day operations and maintenance to Alcatel-Lucent, Etisalat Nigeria will be able to focus on their core business issues such as increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) and ensuring increased network quality and affordability while avoiding the complexity of network operations and management.

“This new contract further strengthens our long-standing cooperation with Etisalat and highlights their confidence in our ability to create, deliver and manage complex next-generation networks with strong local support capabilities,” Adolfo Hernandez, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in Europe, Middle East and Africa said, adding that “With our professional and managed services and advanced technologies, Alcatel-Lucent is committed to helping Etisalat’s sustainable development in Nigeria and to ensure the highest level of service to its customers located throughout the country.”

“Since it began operations in Nigeria, Etisalat has been committed to providing Nigerians with world-class service for which Etisalat is known for in all the countries where it operates. That is why we have selected Alcatel-Lucent, a competent partner with global experience and we look forward to them meeting our high standards of network performance to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of our subscribers,” Steven Evans, CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, added.

Alcatel-Lucent has over 20 years of experience in managed services, and currently supports 250 million subscribers across 100 customer networks including AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Oi, Orange, Reliance, Telecom New Zealand, and Vivacom. The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world’s foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.