Zain Iraq enters US$650 million outsourcing agreement

Zain Iraq has signed a US$650 million five-year network outsourcing agreement with Ericsson, the world’s leading provider of telecommunications technology and services and its local partner SIM (Service in Motion). Under the agreement, Ericsson will optimise, modernise and manage IT operations and Zain’s mobile network in Iraq that currently includes more than 3,700 sites across the country. The agreement also extends to the northern region of Kurdistan where Zain has recently launched commercial.

Zain served over 12.4 million active customers in Iraq as of September 30, 2011. The deal with Ericsson will enable the cellco to increase its focus on its core customer facing business activities such as managing its customer relationships and offer a shorter time-to-market for the introduction of new services and technologies. The arrangement with Ericsson has the objective of improving network efficiency, reducing operating costs and optimising Zain’s investment in Iraq.

Zain and Ericsson executives at the signing of the outsourcing agreement

The deal also gives Ericsson its first major managed services agreement in Iraq, reflecting the increased attention of both companies on the growing Iraqi market.

Preparing for the future, Ericsson will replace and upgrade Zain’s network by introducing a single-RAN (Radio Access Network) platform, the latest advanced multi-technology, multi-standard and multi-band platform. This more advanced technology combined with Ericsson’s managed services offering built on improved quality of service and operational efficiency is a step towards giving Zain in Iraq the ability to launch and support 3G technology, and improve its customer experience.