Nokia and Ericsson to run the Orange and Vodafone network

In an effort to reduce costs the UK carriers Orange and Vodafone recently announced that they will now be using Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson to operate their run their mobile telecoms networks.

The two companies have said they are looking to share the cost and usage of the equipment or are looking to outsource the operations of their network in order to focus more on services and consumers.

A senior analyst at research firm Ovum, Emeka Obiodu said “Operators have been reluctant to do this until now because they have always considered network operation to be part of their core business. They have started to become convinced that it’s more important to provide good services.”

The operational support and maintenance for the UK mobile radio access networks for Vodafone will now be provided by Ericsson following the signing of a seven year agreement.

In a statement the chief technology officer for Vodafone UK, Jeni Mundy said “We see this as a strategic long-term relationship, offering real operational and financial benefits allowing us, over time, to reinvest savings in delivering new products and services for customers.”

The transfer of about 350 employees of Vodafone, who has a UK client base of 19 million, was included in the deal with Ericsson, the largest mobile network maker in the world.

Obiodu said “If Vodafone does it in the UK there’s every chance they will look at it as a global phenomenon.”

Similar orders to run the telecoms networks in Spain and Britain for Orange over the next five years were won by Nokia Siemens Networks.

In the UK Orange have 15.9 million customers and there are 11.3 million mobile and 1.2 million broadband clients in Spain. More than 320 staff in the UK will be taken from Orange by Nokia Siemens.