| 5 31 2002
African telecommunications company, Ericsson Market Unit Southern Africa
has won a contract - worth US$7.6-million in the first phase alone - to
roll out a full GSM wireless infrastructure and value-added services for
mobile operator Tele-Com Lesotho.
The contract will see Ericsson rolling out a complete turn-key network -
including GSM, transmission, services and civil works - for Tele-Com
Lesotho, which is jointly owned by Zimbabwe's Econet Wireless
International, South African power giant Eskom enterprises and Mauritius
Telecom, as well as the government of Lesotho.
The first phase of the Lesotho project is expected to be completed by
June 2002, and includes 28 base stations across the country. The
engineering and hardware installations will be handled by Ericsson's
global partners EXi and ABB, the global power and automation technology
group will supply the civil work including towers and containers.
Ericsson Market Unit Head and MD, Jan Embro, said the contract was clear
evidence of the ongoing opportunities for network providers as African
countries turned to wireless networks to meet their burgeoning
telecommunications needs.
"Across the continent, sophisticated cellular services are capturing
significant market share against a backdrop of unwieldy and unreliable
fixed line networks," said Mr Embro.
"A functional telecommunications network is the basis of almost all
commerce today, and if you think that only two percent of Africa's 900
million people have access to a telephone, you can see the information
gap that remains in front of us."
Mr Embro said Ericsson's long-standing partnership with Econet had
played a significant role in clinching the contract.
"One can only become a preferred supplier for telecommunications
networks by developing suitable business solutions and by forming fair
and rewarding relationships with existing and new operators," said Mr
Embro.
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