Ericsson wins UK 3G RAN management contract

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:53:09 -0500

The joint venture formed by T-Mobile UK and 3 UK to run their 3G radio access networks (RAN) has awarded a four-year managed services contract to Ericsson. Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) was formed by the two UK operators in January 2008 with the intention of deploying the UK's most extensive 3G network by 2010.

Under the new contract Ericsson will be responsible not only for the operation and maintenance of the jointly owned 3G network but also for T-Mobile's 2G radio access network. MBNL's deal with Ericsson should deliver substantial cost savings and enable better control over operational expenditures. As part of the contract Ericsson will be decommissioning an estimated 5,000 cell sites. Around 80 T-Mobile employees have been transferred to Ericsson.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux and Mobile Europe

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Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:08:28 -0400

The site-sharing agreement struck between T-Mobile and 3 UK seems to be gathering pace with around 5,000 cell sites identified for decommissioning. Both operators are planning to remove masts and transmitters as they begin to share resources, but it looks likely a small amount of new sites will be built as they take 3G into areas where coverage has been absent.

The two firms claim this site-sharing deal will give them the best 3G network in the UK, providing 98 per cent of the population with good 3G coverage. This claim could prove to be a valuable marketing tool for both firms, especially given that 02 recently admitted it had failed to meet its licence obligations regarding network deployment and coverage.

A similar deal between Vodafone and Orange to share networks remains stalled after the two companies failed to agree on the value of each other's infrastructure assets. Negotiations surrounding the sharing of transmitter sites has been seen as relatively simple in comparison to deciding how any agreement would work with respect to backhaul and core network components.

For more on this story:
- go to Mobile Today

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Masts

Ericsson wins UK 3G RAN management contract

T-Mobile UK to chop 5,000 cellphone masts