Bharti Airtel taps IBM's IT services for Africa operations
17 Sep 2010
Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile firm, today said it has tied up supply of information technology services with US computer giant IBM for modernisation of its new operations in Africa.
Bharti Airtel, the fifth-largest mobile phone company in the world, completed the acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait-based Zain in June, for around $10.7 billion.
Under the 10-year alliance, IBM will deliver "innovative and affordable 2G and 3G mobile technology for Zain's services across the African continent, New-Delhi based Bhart Airtel said in a statement.
IBM will manage the computing technology, customer and other services for Bharti's mobile communications network across 16 African countries.
"There are huge opportunities throughout Africa to transform how people communicate," Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.
Though the company has not disclosed the financial details of the deal, analysts have pegged its value at more than $1.5 billion.