ECUADOR
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – L.M. Ericsson was awarded a five-year frame agreement valued at more than $250 million by BellSouth Ecuador to upgrade its Advanced Mobile Phone Services wireless network to the Interim Standard-136, or digital AMPS, standard.
The network migration is scheduled to take place over the next three years, giving BellSouth Ecuador’s 100,000 subscribers access to personal communications services, wireless office services and short message services. Network capacity also will be expanded, said Ericsson.
EGYPT
Ericsson also won a contract valued at $100 million from Egypt’s second Global System for Mobile communications operator, Misrfone to deliver a complete 900 MHz GSM network.
The network buildout initially will focus on Egypt’s urban areas such as Cairo and Alexandria and populated areas along the Nile River, with all populated areas gaining coverage in later phases. The contract represents a breakthrough for Ericsson in a country with great GSM potential, the company said.
THE NETHERLANDS
The company will deliver a turnkey nationwide Global System for Mobile communications network to the Netherlands’ third mobile operator, Telfort, under a contract valued at more than $200 million, said the equipment maker.
The new GSM network will be the third there, but the country’s first to operate at 1800 MHz, Ericsson said.
The contract covers AXE systems, intelligent network services, radio base stations, microwave radio Mini-Link solutions and operation and maintenance services. Also included in the contract is number portability implementation, which will be mandated by the Dutch Ministry of Telecommunications beginning in January.
Ericsson previously delivered a fixed switching network to Telfort, which will be integrated with the new network, the company said.
