Iraq's growing mobile operator, Korek today announced that it has awarded a three-year managed services contract to Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC). Under which, Ericsson will provide provisioning and field maintenance services including day-to-day services for Korek's network in Baghdad. Under the new agreement, Ericsson will help Korek achieve optimal network stability for 99.999% of its radio base station (RBS) and microwave sites while finding better efficiencies by focusing on its core activities which include network quality assurance, customer satisfaction as well as business and strategy development. "Counting on Ericsson for our Network Field Maintenance comes as part of our strategy to focus on providing our customers with the highest network performance quality while at the same time prepare the network for the future to cater for the growing demand on data and telecommunication services in the country. " said Ghada Gebara, Korek CEO. "Based on Ericsson's successful track record and our experience with the company, we are positive that with their pool of knowledge, expertise and capabilities we will be able to offer the highest standards of network quality and reliability, use our resources more efficiently and focus solely on enhancing our customers' experience ." The agreement marks an extension of a longstanding relationship between Ericsson and Korek, during which they have worked closely on several projects which include the deployment of a billing post-paid system for Korek customers and the preparation of the telecom operator's network for 3G and LTE. "Today Ericsson is the undisputed leader in managed services and field maintenance," said Tarek Saadi, President and Head of Ericsson North Middle East. "We are aware that one of the most important aspects that need to be taken into consideration during the deployment of any project is scalability and the ability for the operator to cope with the changes in the industry. With the rise of competitiveness of the telecom sector in Iraq nowadays, we are sure that this agreement will strengthen Korek's competitive edge which will, in turn, help improve the quality of services and the end-user experience." Globally, Ericsson has signed more than 300 managed services contacts in more than 100 countries out of which are 70 contracts in 2011 only. Ericsson manages networks on behalf of operators that service over 900 million subscribers worldwide.
