Middle East operator group Zain has called on infrastructure vendor Ericsson to manage, plan and optimise its network in Bahrain. The four year managed services deal will result in improved network stability and quality for the operator, said Ericsson.

Ericsson will manage the day-to-day operations of Zain’s network across the country, allowing Zain to allocate more resources towards higher-end services and offerings, the firms said.

Mohammed Zainalabedin, general manager at Zain Bahrain said the move would help to increase Zain’s internal productivity, which will be reflected in subscribers’ improved experience.

Zain is the second largest of Bahrain’s three mobile network operators, with 779,000 subscribers as of September 2013, according to Informa’s WCIS, trailing Batelco with its 902,000 subscribers. Viva Bahrain has 515,000 subscribers, according to the service.