Ericsson Wins 1st 4G/LTE Contract in Sub-Saharan Africa - Analyst Blog
Ericsson ERIC won a multi-country managed services contract from Smile Communications. This five-year agreement will be Ericsson’s first 4G/LTE managed services contract in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As per the contract, Ericsson will offer comprehensive services comprising performance, optimization and network operations, among others to strengthen Smile Communications’ LTE networks in Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo (‘DRC’). This will aid Smile Communications in focusing on enhancing its customer experience.
Notably, this new contract enhanced Ericsson’s existing alliance with Smile Communications. Ericsson has been serving the latter’s sole provider of 4G networks in Nigeria. Moreover, the latest contract win depicts Ericsson’s experience spanning over 15 years in handling multi-vendor, multi-technology networks in East African regions.
With the emergence of the Smartphone market and subsequent usage of mobile broadband, the user demand for coverage speed and quality has increased in recent times. Further, to maintain superior performance as traffic increases, there is also a continuous need for network tuning and optimization.
Ericsson, being one of the premier telecom services providers, is much in demand among operators to expand network coverage and upgrade networks for higher speed and capacity. Local operators of various regions like Taiwan, Kenya, China, Chile, Africa, Sweden and Australia, have collaborated with Ericsson for enhancing their network in the region. The services include either a network upgrade to 4G and 5G or establishment of an advanced broadband portfolio altogether to match up to customers demand.
Encouragingly, this largest global supplier of LTE technology currently serves over 1 billion subscribers via offering its managed services for networks in 180 countries. In fact, about 40% of the global mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson’s networks.
Ericsson currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked wireless equipment stocks include InterDigital, Inc. IDCC, Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR and Zhone Technologies Inc. ZHNE. All three stocks hold a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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