Swedish telco Ericsson said it has forged a five-year managed services contract with Kuwait-listed Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC-owned Zain, tasking the former with the operational and management responsibilities for the nationwide GSM/WCDMA networks of Zain in the African country, Nigeria.

The agreement, which is Ericsson’s first stride in the African continent, represents the company’s high interest rate in high-growth markets and it following the latest trend of bestowing the task of managing wireless networks as telecom carriers scramble to cut cost.

“Managed services is one of the fastest-growing areas in telecoms and Nigeria is demonstrating strong growth and increased levels of investment and competition. The synergies between the two companies will ensure best-in-class network stability and market support,” said Lars Linden, President, Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa.

The contract will see Ericsson taking care of the network operations, field operations including optimization, third-party vendor management for Zain''s GSM/WCDMA networks, and business support systems.

Furthering the comment, Chris Gabriel, CEO of Zain Africa, said, “The managed services agreement will have many benefits for the company, providing further thrust for Zain's ambition to be a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011. Choosing Ericsson, which has more than 15 years experience in managed services, to help operate our network in Nigeria is perfectly in line with our 'Drive11' business objectives of improving efficiency and the quality of our networks and operations.”

With this tie up, Ericsson will ensure Zain of more enhanced network availability and capacity, making the most of Zain's network investment and cutting cost across all 4000 sites, said the company.