Nokia Siemens Networks wins Contract from Aircel to Build and Operate Greenfield GSM Network

The contract includes turnkey deployment of the latest multi radio flexi base station platform and managed services. The value of the contract is Rs. 300 crore and runs for two years.

Nokia Siemens Networks today announced that it has won its first contract from Maxis Group, India, which operates under brand name of Aircel, to build a greenfield GSM network in Kolkata. The Rs. 300 crore contract includes supply of GSM/EDGE equipment, implementation, project management and managed services, such as operating and maintaining the network infrastructure. Nokia Siemens Networks will deploy latest state-of–the-art equipment like Flexi base stations, mini-ultra base stations, 3GPP-based mobile softswitching solution including MSC Servers and Media Gateways PDH, SDH. The network will be supported by the multi-technology, multi-vendor NetAct network and service management system, and will be ready for commercial operations by December 2007.

Commenting on the partnership, Sandeep Das, CEO, Maxis, said: “Today’s announcement is another step in our efforts to build a strong GSM network footprint for Aircel across the world’s fastest growing mobile market. The roll-out of our network in Kolkata will further consolidate our position in East India.” He added “We chose Nokia Siemens Networks as they met our three key criteria – protecting our network investments against technology obsolescence, extensive managed service experience and speedy network deployment within our timelines.”

Added Rohit Chandra, CEO North & East, Aircel, “Our partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks will provide us with the latest GSM technologies such as the multi-radio Flexi Base Station Platform that will not only help us provide services today but will also makes our network ready for 3G and WIMAX services as and when the regulation permits.”

“This contract is special as it is our first contract with Aircel, and we’re very pleased about it,” said Mr. Ashish Chowdhary, Head India Sub-region, Nokia Siemens Networks. He added, ”We would also like to congratulate Aircel on its innovative approach to the provisioning of mobile services in a greenfield network by going for Managed Services right from the start. This will not only help them in achieving OPEX savings but also allow them to focus on their customers’ acquisition and service strategies from the first day of commercial operations.”

GSM radio access networks delivered by Nokia Siemens Networks are connecting more than 1 billion subscribers globally. Nokia Siemens Networks provides solutions for fast and cost-effective GSM network rollout and deployment, both critical success factors for operators building businesses on new growth markets. Nokia Siemens Networks is also the indisputable leader in EDGE today in terms of references and commercial deployments.

About Aircel
Aircel, now part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is among the leading mobile service providers in the Telecom Circles of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, North East and Assam with a GSM subscriber base of approx. 6 million. Aircel operates its services in 9 Telecom Circles of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh & Bihar. Aircel has 14 new licenses to rollout its GSM cellular services across India besides getting the license to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. For more information, please log on to www.aircel.com

About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of communications services. The company provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. The combined pro-forma net sales of €17.1 billion Euro in fiscal year 2006 make Nokia Siemens Networks one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies. Nokia Siemens Networks has operations in some 150 countries and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. It combines Nokia’s Networks Business Group and the carrier related businesses of Siemens Communications.

In India, Nokia Siemens Networks' operations include Sales & Marketing, Research & Development, Manufacturing and Global Networks Operations Centre. Headquartered at Gurgaon, the company has presence in over 170 locations across the country.

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