Ericsson scores service deals in Germany and Mexico

Swedish vendor Ericsson has announced two managed services deals, which will see it offering support to German incumbent Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica’s Mexican GSM operation. 

In Germany, Deutsche Telekom’s fixed and broadband division, T-Com, will transfer its microwave assets and some 200 employees to Ericsson, with the Swedish firm taking control of the carrier’s microwave network, assuming responsibility for planning, deployment, operation and field services. T-Com will then buy microwave capacity as part of the managed services contract, set to run for six years.

Over in Mexico, meanwhile, Ericsson has won a contract to manage multi vendor spare parts supply and logistics for Telefonica’s radio access, transmission and core network elements. The firm will also be responsible for ‘ecology management’; the safe disposal of used hardware units.

As traditional infrastructure supply contracts thin out, managed services deals are becoming increasingly important to vendors and their bottom lines.

Commenting on the German deal, Hans Vestberg, executive vice president of head of Ericsson’s Global Services business unit, said: “We are confident that we not only can maintain the high quality of the network while helping reduce costs for our customer, but that we can also improve profitability in the operation of microwave networks over coming years by adding new customers. This agreement will also lay the foundation for our strategy to make managed services a growth area and success story in Germany.”

Ericsson claims leadership in the managed services arena, with revenues from its services division accounting for 22 per cent of overall sales.