Mumbai, Jan 16 (IANS) Reliance Communications Wednesday said it has awarded a $1 billion contract to telecom equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent to help expand its services in eastern and southern India.
"The contract which extends Reliance Communications' existing relationship with Alcatel-Lucent's for over $1 billion, will deliver world-class, seamless voice and data communications services to RCom customers," the Anil Ambani-promoted firm said in a statement.
As part of the deal, Alcatel-Lucent will enhance Reliance Communication's operations, and synergise hitherto independent wireless and wireline teams to form a single network management organisation.
"This optimized integration of resources will help Reliance Communications to strengthen its focus on growing its business, with top-of-the-line services to customers," it said.
Alcatel-Lucent will also drive a standardisation of the tools, processes and best practices that are applied across RCom businesses, the statement said.
Commenting on the deal Gurdeep Singh, chief executive officer, wireless business, Reliance Communications said, it will enable Reliance Communications to take the "lead in offering next generation telecom solutions that will meet and exceed the expectations of our customers, and help them to transit from voice-led usage to a seamless data experience across multiple devices and platforms."