Vodacom Tz Signs Management Deal With NSN

Vodacom Tanzania has inked a five-year managed services deal with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). 


The vendor will take over complete responsibility for the existing Network Management Centre and operations across the radio, transmission and core networks, as well as network planning and optimisation. Under the terms of the deal, 124 Vodacom Tanzania employees will transfer to NSN. No financial details have been disclosed. 


Vodacom Tanzania ended 2010 with just over seven million active subscribers, giving it a market share of 36%.

Vodacom Tz Acquires NSN Billing System

Nokia Siemens networks (NSN) has announced a contract to supply Vodacom Tanzania with a unified charging and billing system. The upgrade will allow the cellco’s pre-paid subscribers to benefit from the same promotional campaigns and value added services (VAS) as their post-paid counterparts, and vice versa, it said in a statement.

NSN will deploy its solution – based on the ‘charge@once unified’ software – that allows what it calls ‘predefined marketing scenario’s to be activated on demand.

Vodacom Tanzania (Vodacom) is the country’s leading cellular network operator by subscribers, offering GSM communication services to about seven million customers across the country. It has deployed a range of state of the art technologies for voice, data, leased lines, PABX connectivity, international connectivity, WiMAX solutions, remote communication solutions over satellite and banking solutions.

The operator says its GSM-900/1800 network currently covers 76.47% of the population; GPRS countrywide coverage is 76.47% of the population; EDGE is available in selected towns and cities covering 62% of the population; UMTS with HSDPA in the capital Dar es Salaam covers 14.1% of the population; and WiMAX (802.16d) is provided in five major cities covering 70% of business premises.

Zain Expands Fibre Network in Nigeria by 600km

­Zain Nigeria is expanding its existing 4000 km nationwide fiber backbone network by a further 600km, and has awarded a contract to Nokia Siemens Networks for the expansion. Phase 2 will extend the fiber optic backbone, and will be delivered completely within a timeframe of six months.

"Our aim is to create wide capacity for Nigeria's growing number of customers demanding high quality broadband services by deploying self owned fiber," said Zain Nigeria's Chief Operating Officer, Khaled Khorshid.

"Following the initial project with Nokia Siemens Networks that was completed four months ahead of schedule, we knew they had the high standards and commitment to meet our delivery expectations. The benefit of a quick deployment is the significant revenue stream the new capacity generates for us, in addition to high savings as a result of reduced fiber leasing costs." Khorshid said.

Awarded the original project in November 2007, at Zain's request, Nokia Siemens Networks sped up the project's preliminary deadline of June 2009, and completed Phase 1 of the project by end February.