Ericsson gets contract from Sprint to operate its network

Sprint has decided that it will contract with Ericsson for the Swedish firm to handle the day to day operations of its wireline and wireless networks. Sprint has clarified some points about this deal. First of all, the pin-dropping network is not giving up ownership or control of its pipelines. The networks will still be owned by Sprint with responsibilities for investment, technology, strategy, vendor selections and product development. Sprint is transferring 6,000 employees to Ericsson Services who will be doing the same jobs that they had at Sprint. There are no layoffs involved in this arrangement, according to the U.S. carrier, and customers will still have their primary contact with Sprint employees. Things like working at the towers, installing lines, moving equipment around and watching the daily network traffic will all be done by Ericsson.

The idea behind the 7 year, $5 billion dollar pact is to bring efficiencies to Sprint while allowing the carrier to focus on other areas where the company could come up with innovative ideas and products.

source: Buzz About Wireless via BGR