Airtel inks 4-year deal with Nokia for 3G services

Bharti Airtel has selected Nokia Networks for the rollout its 3G services in five telecom circles and network expansion in three zones.Under the four-year contract, Nokia will provide its equipment and services to Bharti Airtel's infrastructure."We are happy to further extend our long-term association with Nokia Networks towards innovating our network's service delivery mechanism and deliver a host of multi-media apps as well as services for Airtel customers," Bharti Airtel director of Network Services Group Abhay Savargaonkar said in a statement.Bharti Airtel in the spectrum auction held in February this year bought 3G spectrum in seven telecom service areas, including in six new circles of Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and UP East, for Rs 5,833.5 crore. It bought additional slot in Tamil Nadu.Under the deal, Nokia will work on network planning and optimization, network implementation, network operations, project management and care services, including hardware and software maintenance as well as competence development."With this project, we have further strengthened Bharti's 3G proposition in eight business-critical circles in India including five new circles," Nokia Networks vice president and head of India market Sandeep Girotra said.PTI