NSN wins "Russia's first" full network outsource contract from MTS

Nokia Siemens Networks has struck a deal with Russian carrier MTS for what the firms say is the first full network outsourcing contract to be signed in that country. The five-year project will see MTS outsource the daily operation and maintenance of its entire mobile network across Central Russia to NSN. The Finnish-German vendor will absorb 250 MTS employees as part of the deal

“Entering into a managed service agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks will allow MTS to substantially optimise network operations and increase efficiency while keeping service experience high for our customer base,” said Aleksander Popovsky, director of MTS Russia. “While managed services projects have already proved their efficiency worldwide, in Russia the experience of such project implementation will be unique and innovative. That is why we’ll attentively follow up the progress in its development under local conditions. In the future this will allow us to make the decision on introducing this approach to other regions.”

Nokia Siemens Networks sold 37 managed service contracts in 2009, according to Michael Matthews, the firm’s head of strategy and business development. “We have a consulting organisation that is increasingly being asked to help the operators. When you sell a managed services contract, which is a long term deal and involves us taking on the running of the network, it is about showing operators the business model rather than the technology model,” he told Telecoms.com. “We all understand the technology; now it’s about how can we make it work better for the carriers and that’s a business discussion.”

NSN has more than 240 managed service deals in place with fixed and mobile operators, the firm said, and has more than 300 million subscribers on networks that it manages.

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