E-Plus hands over network management to ZTE

German operator E-Plus, which is in the process of being acquired by Telefónica, has completed the transition of its network management to Chinese firm ZTE.

ZTE completed a smooth and trouble-free transition of the network operations in early 2014, following the signing of the deal last year. The managed services contract between ZTE and the E-Plus Group (currently owned by KPN) is the largest of its kind in Europe, the companies claim.

After months of preparation, ZTE said it implemented the takeover of E-Plus network operations during just a single, migrating the whole IT infrastructure from the previous service provider to a ZTE data centre. In the context of the managed services contract ZTE also implemented a completely new spare parts management system and replaced former applications such as the field force management programme.

In order to enlarge its service capabilities and to expand its portfolio, ZTE Services Deutschland completed the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent Network Services in January 2014, with all of the 750 employees of the former network service provider of E-Plus successfully integrated into ZTE.

With the acquisition of ALNS, ZTE has increased the total number of its employees in Germany to over 900, and now has 15 branches throughout the country and is the largest ZTE organization in Europe.

Betty Cui, VP of ZTE, said: “We believe in Germany as a good business location and with this investment ZTE shows its long term commitment to the country and to Europe. We started our business in Germany in 2006 and we have seen continuous growth. Now this investment marks a big step forward and a milestone for the development of ZTE in Europe. It not only helps to ensure seamless continuity in the maintenance of the E-Plus network but is the basis to take on future managed services projects for other German and European network operators.”