Atlantique Telecom selects Ericsson to manage African networks

Five-year contract for Ericsson to manage mobile networks for Atlantique Telecom in its Western and Central African operations
Up to 10 million subscribers stand to benefit from improved network quality.
Partnership supports Atlantique Telecom's focus on leading a new generation of operators in Africa.
Atlantique Telecom, part of The Etisalat Group, today announced that it has entered a five year multi-country managed services agreement with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to manage its entire mobile networks.

During the past decade, the number of mobile connections in Africa has grown an average of 30% per year and the growth pace is not slowing down. Atlantique Telecom aims to develop offerings based on value-added services to its growing subscriber base, taking into account the specific requirements of each consumer and providing solutions tailored to their expectations. This agreement enables Etisalat to focus even more on their core business - delivering innovative offerings to their customers.

Nagi Abboud, CEO of Atlantique Telecom said: "With the evolution of the competitive landscape in our markets, we need to adapt our operating model to provide a better service to our end users. Adopting this business outsourcing model is therefore an important step in our group strategy execution that will be for the benefit of our subscribers, who remain our top priority, and this will, as well, open new growth opportunities to our employees."

Lars Lindén, Head of Ericsson in region sub-Saharan Africa says, "Managed services is a proven business model to support operators in growth mode and it is one of the most dynamic areas in our industry. Our work together will support Atlantique Telecom in defining a new generation of operators in Africa."

The contract covers network operations, field maintenance, network optimization and spare parts management for Etisalat' s multivendor mobile networks, including access, core and transmission, as well as value added services.

NOTES TO EDITORS

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About Atlantique Telecom:

Atlantique Telecom is part of Etisalat Group, with operations in Benin, Central Africa Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Niger and Togo

Strong commitment to excellence and innovation has seen Etisalat become one of the world's fastest-growing telecom groups, rapidly expanding across Asia and Africa. Its UAE operations, strategically located at the crossroads of East and West, enables Etisalat to be the major hub in the Middle East for Internet, voice, broadcast, roaming and corporate data services. Etisalat has been recognised as 'Best Operator' 10 times since 2006 and 'Best Wholesale Provider' four times in the last three years. Servicing over 130 million customers in 15 countries Etisalat continues to reach out to new customers and markets.