Bharti Airtel has awarded Ericsson an estimated US$1 billion contract, including expansion and an upgrade of its GSM/GPRS network and managed services. Under the three-year deal, Ericsson will manage design, development and deployment of Bharti's network, including capacity and coverage, enabling the operator to expand in rural India and reach out to all towns and cities in 15 regions. 
Ericsson will also upgrade the network with mobile softswitch (Media Gateway and MSC Servers), the solution that paves the way to an all-IP network.
Ericsson is a long-term Bharti partner, managing more than 70 percent of its GSM/GPRS network in 15 regions in India.
http://www.ericsson.comhttp://www.airtelworld.com
- As of July 2006, Bharti Airtel was serving over 25 million users.
