Telenor taps Ericsson for Myanmar network

Operator group Telenor has called on infrastructure vendor Ericsson to provide network equipment and managed services for its network in Myanmar. The two firms have signed a five year contract which sees Ericsson implementing equipment in a multivendor environment as well as provide managed services for the network.

Last year Telenor signed a frame agreement with Ericsson to supply RAN equipment and associated services for part of Telenor’s 2G and 3G network Myanmar network. According to the vendor, the solution provides flexibility for the network to tailor capacity to the traffic requirements in different parts of the country and to integrate new spectrum bands as they become available.

Telenor is expecting its network in Myanmar to cover 90 per cent of the country’s 60 million population in five years. Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group said in November last year that the operator aims to launch its services in Myanmar in mid-2014. Ericsson will hire staff locally over the next few months for the project.

“This is a historic project for Myanmar and for Telenor, and strong partners like Ericsson will be critical to its success,” said Petter Furberg, CEO of Telenor Myanmar.

In June last year, Myanmar’s government selected  Telenor and Qatar’s Ooredoo as the two successful applicants for its nationwide telecommunications licences.

The Broadband Asia conference is taking place on the 29th-30th April 2014 at the Suntec, Singapore. Click here to download a brochure.