Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer, Ericsson today claimed successful upgradation of Vodafone Essar’s Live Network in four key zones namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Punjab. Ericsson says that it is the largest upgradation of Live Network anywhere in the world.

The upgradation, which will result in benefiting 13 million subscribers of Vodafone, saw Ericsson replacing 10,500 GSM cell sites for Vodafone Essar. It turns out to be one site every minute if considered the fact that the upgradation was started in February 2008. Ericsson added that it has completed the project two months ahead of schedule.

During the course of the project, Ericsson delivered more than 16,000 base station cabinets and more than 250 base station controllers. In addition it provided an expansion of the layered architecture circuit core including mobile packet back bone (MPBN) and microwave transmission equipment.

On the occasion, Naresh Gupta, Technical Director at Vodafone Essar, says: "Swapping a commercially live network with near zero service deterioration is a very demanding task. I am pleased that Ericsson managed to undertake and complete such a challenging project in record time."

Gowton Achaibar, President of Ericsson India and Sri Lanka, says: "This record-breaking network modernization project demonstrates Ericsson's end-to-end capacity and expertise in carrying out large and complex projects. It was made possible by our highly competent and dedicated team."