Bharti Africa inks network expansion deal with Huawei

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has awarded a contract to Chinese telecoms gearmaker Huawei Technologies to expand and manage its mobile network in Africa, the companies said, in a deal that two sources said was worth about $400 million.

Bharti said in February that Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei would be its network partners in Africa.

Huawei will design, upgrade and expand Bharti's second- and third-generation (2G and 3G) mobile networks in Africa and would also manage operations and maintenance, the companies said on Wednesday, without disclosing financial details.

One of the two sources said Huawei had been given about 40 percent of the total Bharti Africa network contracts. Both sources confirmed that deals with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens would be announced later.

A Bharti Airtel spokesman declined to comment beyond the statement.

Indian mobile market leader Bharti last year acquired mobile operations in 15 African countries in a $9 billion deal, and currently operates in 16 African countries.

Bharti has forecast capital expenditure of $1-$1.2 billion for the African operations for the current financial year to March 2012.