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Johannesburg - Technology and consulting firm IBM and India-based telecommunications group Bharti Airtel announced on Friday the completion of contract negotiations for technology services spanning 16 countries in Africa.
Airtel is the new brand name for the 16 Zain operations across Africa that Bharti Airtel acquired in June 2010.
As part of the 10-year agreement signed in December 2010, IBM said it would deploy and manage the information technology
(IT) infrastructure and applications to support Airtel's goal of providing affordable and innovative mobile services throughout Africa.
IBM said it would consolidate and transform the 16 different IT environments into an integrated IT system, and oversee the management of all applications, data centre operations, servers, storage and desktop services.
The agreement calls for IBM to provide customer support applications, covering customer relationship management, billing and self-service, which will empower customers and assist Airtel in delivering innovative and convenient 2G and 3G mobile services.
In addition, IBM said it planned to deploy a powerful media management system to offer content such as music and video over mobile devices, while simultaneously facilitating the growth of the application developer community in Africa, which would enable Airtel to tap new sources of revenue.
Manoj Kohli, CEO and joint MD of Airtel, said: "The deployment of cutting-edge technology will provide a positive multiplier effect to our customers, employees and business partners through applications that deliver enhanced services, data and processes in real time. An empowered ecosystem will manifest in quick delivery of solutions that meet the evolving needs of Africa's consumers.
"With more than half a billion mobile subscriptions and significant annual growth, Africa represents 10% of the global market. The demand for new services - such as mobile internet access - spurs the need for a developed networ of telecommunications connectivity. IBM is helping Airtel tap this growth by accelerating the rollout of an enhanced consumer experience across the continent," said Bruno Di Leo, general manager for IBM Growth Markets.
The agreement extends the relationship between IBM and Bharti Airtel, established in 2004, when south Asia's leading mobile communications provider selected IBM to run IT and applications for its entire network in India. Since then, Airtel has seen explosive growth from six million subscribers to more than 150 million. Airtel has 40 million customers across its African operations and said it was targeting 100 million by 2012-13.
Airtel is the new brand name for the 16 Zain operations across Africa that Bharti Airtel acquired in June 2010.
As part of the 10-year agreement signed in December 2010, IBM said it would deploy and manage the information technology
(IT) infrastructure and applications to support Airtel's goal of providing affordable and innovative mobile services throughout Africa.
IBM said it would consolidate and transform the 16 different IT environments into an integrated IT system, and oversee the management of all applications, data centre operations, servers, storage and desktop services.
The agreement calls for IBM to provide customer support applications, covering customer relationship management, billing and self-service, which will empower customers and assist Airtel in delivering innovative and convenient 2G and 3G mobile services.
In addition, IBM said it planned to deploy a powerful media management system to offer content such as music and video over mobile devices, while simultaneously facilitating the growth of the application developer community in Africa, which would enable Airtel to tap new sources of revenue.
Manoj Kohli, CEO and joint MD of Airtel, said: "The deployment of cutting-edge technology will provide a positive multiplier effect to our customers, employees and business partners through applications that deliver enhanced services, data and processes in real time. An empowered ecosystem will manifest in quick delivery of solutions that meet the evolving needs of Africa's consumers.
"With more than half a billion mobile subscriptions and significant annual growth, Africa represents 10% of the global market. The demand for new services - such as mobile internet access - spurs the need for a developed networ of telecommunications connectivity. IBM is helping Airtel tap this growth by accelerating the rollout of an enhanced consumer experience across the continent," said Bruno Di Leo, general manager for IBM Growth Markets.
The agreement extends the relationship between IBM and Bharti Airtel, established in 2004, when south Asia's leading mobile communications provider selected IBM to run IT and applications for its entire network in India. Since then, Airtel has seen explosive growth from six million subscribers to more than 150 million. Airtel has 40 million customers across its African operations and said it was targeting 100 million by 2012-13.
