Alcatel-Lucent To Build 1,000 Base Stations For Etisalat Nigeria

Alcatel-Lucent To Build 1,000 Base Stations For Etisalat Nigeria

Alcatel-Lucent, global leader in mobile, fixed, IP and optics technologies has signed a new deal to build 1,000 base transceiver stations (BTSs) this year, for Etisalat Nigeria  in order to provide the highest possible quality of service to its subscribers.

The agreement signing ceremony took place at Etisalat Nigeria’s corporate headquarters at Banana Island, Lagos in December.

 LEADERSHIP had in the last quarter of 2012, reported that Etisalat intended to spend $400 million to expand its networks round the country and contracted Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei for the job. Network expansion and strengthening in Nigeria are important aspects that Etisalat is committed to especially with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reiterating the importance of quality of service (QoS) to all operators.

This is the sixth phase of the agreement between the two companies, a working relationship that dates back to 2008 when Etisalat Nigeria entered into an agreement with Alcatel Lucent for the provision of Establish, Operate and Transfer Services towards the establishment of a Public Mobile Cellular Service (PMCS) in Nigeria for Region 2 of its network which comprises Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Kogi and Delta States.

Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, ,described the contract signing as a milestone towards the company’s drive to continually upgrade its network to provide better services to its customers around the country.

“This is a significant milestone as we move into the next phase of our network roll-out. We plan to increase our cell sites by an additional 1,000 in 2013, and this agreement is towards achieving that target.

“We are happy to be partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, in fulfilment of our promise to continuously deliver quality and innovative services to our customers every step of the way,” he said.

He explained that the agreement with Alcatel-Lucent was for the provision of equipment and services for the expansion of its network in the above states.

 “This agreement being executed is for phase 6 of the project and it is for the further expansion and strengthening of the network in the region. Under this phase 6, Alcatel is to build additional sites and provide the necessary equipment and services for the integration of the sites into the Etisalat Nigeria network,” he further revealed.