NEW DELHI: In yet another major outsourcing deal, Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Group on Tuesday entered into a over Rs 580 crore ($125 million) deal with telecom major Nokia to expand the network in eight circles.
"As per the contract, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Bharti's Airtel networks in the circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand) and Orissa for a period of three years," a statement from Nokia said.
Nokia's managed capacity expansion will further help Airtel cover more than 5,000 towns, up from 2,700 across India.
The phased expansion into the towns and villages starts immediately and is likely to be completed by March 2006, Nokia said, adding that the expansion would double Bharti's network capacity, providing reduced congestion, seamless coverage and enhanced qu ality to Bharti's subscribers.
