Etisalat, Alcatel-Lucent enter Phase 6 deal to boost Quality of Service

The management of Etisalat Nigeria has entered the sixth phase of deal with Alcatel-Lucent West Africa, to boost Quality of Service (QoS) across the country.

DigitalSENSE Business News learnt that the deal concretizes commitment to invest in Etisalat network for the purpose of providing the highest possible quality of service to its subscribers.

Also, DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that the deal was concluded on Tuesday December 18, 2012 at Etisalat Nigeria’s corporate headquarters, Banana Island, Lagos.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, the sixth phase of the agreement between the two companies shows a working relationship that dates back to 2008 when Etisalat Nigeria entered into an agreement with Alcatel Lucent for the provision of Establish Operate and Transfer Services for the establishment of a Public Mobile Cellular Service in Nigeria for Region 2 of its network which comprises Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Kogi and Delta states. 

Evans described the contract signing as a milestone towards the company’s drive to continually upgrade its network to provide better services to its customers around the country. 

“This is a significant milestone as we move into the next phase of our network roll-out. We plan to increase our cell sites by an additional 1,000 in 2013 and this agreement is towards achieving that target. We are happy to be partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, in fulfillment of our promise to continuously deliver quality and innovative services to our customers every step of the way," he said. 

Mr. Evans elucidated that the agreement with Alcatel-Lucent is for the provision of equipment and services for the expansion of its network in the above states.

“This agreement being executed is for phase 6 of the project and it is for the further expansion and strengthening of the network in the region. Under this phase 6, Alcatel is to build additional sites and provide the necessary equipment and services for the integration of the sites into the Etisalat Nigeria network,” he further revealed.

L-R- Special Assistant to CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC) Mr. Edoyemi Ogoh; Senior Manager, Fixed Network and Converged
Services, NCC, Engr Abba Adama; Chief Information Officer, Etisalat,
Mr. John Murray; Director, PMO and Operational Strategy, Etisalat, Ms.
Ndidi Okpaluba; Senior Vice President and General Manager of
Interconnection Solutions, Telcordia, Mr. Tom Kershaw ; Programme
Director, Telcordia, Mrs. Bridget Ketiku and Senior Manager (Managed
Services), Interconnect Clearing House Nigeria Ltd (ICN), Mr. Johnson
Farotimi at the Mobile Number Portability (MNP), Working Group
Technical and Regulatory Meeting hosted by Etisalat on Tuesday,
January 8th, 2013.

Equally speaking, the President, Alcatel-Lucent's activities in the Middle East & Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Amr El-Leithy, said the new agreement further strengthens the long-standing relationship with Etisalat covering numerous projects, and demonstrates their confidence in the ability to build, deliver and deploy end-to-end complex networks with strong local expertise and support capabilities.

“We’re committed to supporting Etisalat’s growth in Nigeria and ensure world class services for its customers, and we look forward to continuing our successful working relationship into the future,” he said.

Further, DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that in September 2012 Etisalat Nigeria also signed an agreement with Huawei for the supply of equipment and services for the expansion of its network nationwide.

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