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Ericsson offers BSNL consultancy services for 3G
Sunday, September 20, 2009 2:56 PM
Sep. 20, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) -- Thomas K. Thomas

In a bid to boost the uptake of its 3G mobile services, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is considering a proposal from Swedish equipment firm, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERICY) , to help the State-run telecom major spruce up its marketing strategy.

Ericsson has offered its business consulting services to help BSNL with areas such as customer segmentation and marketing for 3G services based on its global experience with other operators.

Ericsson has done similar projects in network consulting, revenue assurance etc with operators such as Telephonica and AT&T. (NYSE:SBT) (NYSE:T)
Preliminary talks

Senior BSNL officials confirmed that Ericsson had approached the PSU with a plan to boost its 3G services in the country.

“Ericsson has offered a proposal where it will manage the entire marketing of BSNL’s 3G services including fixing tariffs, promotional campaigns and consumer feedback. We are considering it but no final decision has been made in this regard,” said a BSNL official. They, however, said that the talks between the two companies are at a preliminary stage.

They also said that the proposal from Ericsson was not for becoming a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) or a franchisee but for an advisory role.

The PSU had launched 3G mobile services early this year but has not had much success. BSNL and MTNL are the only operators to get spectrum for 3G services, but both have not made much of the first mover advantage.

While MTNL had floated a tender for identifying a private partner, BSNL has so far rolled out 3G mobile service by itself.

Analysts said that 3G was an entirely new market segment and it would help the PSUs if they took help from global players who had the expertise in packaging the services. For Ericsson in India this would be its first such project if BSNL signs up.

Ericsson may offer similar advisory services to some of the private players once they start launching 3G mobile services next year.

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