Bharti Airtel entered a multi‑year Network Operations Center (NOC) managed services agreement with Ericsson.
This partnership is part of Airtel’s broader strategy to improve network reliability, performance, and operational efficiency. For Ericsson, it represents a significant managed-services contract enhancing its footprint in India’s rapidly expanding telecom market.
Why this matters:
- For Airtel, outsourcing network operations allows it to concentrate on customer services and next-generation innovations (like network slicing and private network rollout) while leveraging Ericsson’s global expertise.
- For Ericsson, this deepens its role in India’s telecom ecosystem, extending its influence beyond equipment supply into comprehensive network management—an opportunity for recurring revenue and strengthened strategic positioning.
Context & history:
- Airtel and Ericsson have been long-standing partners—Airtel previously signed a multi-billion dollar deal for 4G/5G equipment deployment in December 2024.
- These agreements reinforce Ericsson’s leadership in India’s telecom infrastructure, competing alongside Nokia and Samsung, especially as demand for sophisticated services continues to grow in 2025 and beyond.
Overall, the new managed-services contract highlights Airtel’s ambition to upgrade and future-proof its network while allowing Ericsson to expand its role from hardware vendor to full-stack network operations partner.
Source: The Economic Times
