Motorola has signed a deal with Nigerian mobile network operator Celtel Nigeria, to expand its GSM network, as part of a $50 million contract.
The Nigerian subsidiary of Celtel International says it will expand its network in the south-east and south-south regions of the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of this week's 3GSM World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain, Motorola VP for the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan Ali Amer described the expansion as "aggressive". The agreement will see Motorola deploy its Reach GSM solutions and provide a "variety of comprehensive services", he explained.
"I believe they are coming in with very aggressive plans to continue to expand the network capacity, and Motorola is proud to be a partner with Celtel," Amer noted.
He added that expansion would allow Celtel to increase its subscriber capacity, extend its coverage into new areas and improve the quality of its network.
Timelines
Commenting on Motorola's role in the project, Amer stated the company would deploy an end-to-end solution, from infrastructure building to the delivery of services. He added the contract stipulates a variety of services to be delivered by Motorola.
Amer would not comment on the timelines set for the completion of the project, but said it was a "pretty aggressive schedule". He could also not provide specific subscriber numbers and how these would be affected by the expansion, but said the increase is likely to be "significant".
This is the first contract that Motorola has secured with Celtel, although Motorola has a long-standing relationship with the MTC Group, which owns Celtel International.
Motorola said in a statement that, as an upgradeable, rapid and cost-effective solution that offers new features and platforms, GSM is predicted to be a key technology for connecting the next billion subscribers across the world.
Driving demand
Patrick Bradd, Motorola Networks and Enterprise director of core networks business development for EMEA, said in an interview the demand for end-to-end network solutions had increased significantly in Africa over the past year.
Driving this demand, Bradd pointed out, is the realisation that licences are becoming available, and there is a lot of spectrum being bought.
End-to-end solutions involve a "design, deploy and manage" model, noted Bradd.
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