ALEXANDRIA, Minn.-Rural Cellular Corp. signed a five-year deal with Ericsson Inc. to provide CDMA2000 1x and GSM/GPRS core and radio infrastructure and services as part of the carrier’s previously announced overlay of its legacy TDMA network. Rural Cellular said the diverse network plans will allow it to continue to serve its nationwide roaming partners.
Ericsson said it will immediately begin installing GSM/GPRS equipment in Rural Cellular’s Northeast region and CDMA2000 1x equipment in its Midwest region.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released, but Rural Cellular recently announced it plans to spend between $190 million and $230 million through 2005 on its network overlay initiative.
In addition, Ericsson scored infrastructure contracts in Bangladesh and Greece. In Bangladesh, Ericsson signed a frame agreement to supply and install equipment to expand GrameenPhone’s GSM network. The agreement includes base stations, switches and GPRS technology. In Greece, Ericsson signed a contract with Panafon Greek Telecommunications Co. for the initial phase of its UMTS deployment. It will supply the core network technology and provide engineering and consultancy services. Ericsson said Vodafone Greece’s UMTS network should be ready by end-2003.
The value of the contracts were not disclosed.
Finally, Ericsson said it signed a $600 million contract to supply hardware and software for the GSM network of Guandong province in China operated by China Mobile. The contract will be completed in 2004, said Ericsson.
