Ericsson has signed an agreement with Bhutan Telecom to transform the latter’s billing systems into a convergent environment supporting mobile, fixed line and broadband subscribers. The partnership will enable Bhutan Telecom to design and launch promotions and campaigns on real time basis. The transformation also supports product and service cross-bundling, cost-control for postpaid subscriptions and service personalisation.

Ericsson will be responsible for design, deployment and systems integration of the solution. The convergent charging solution, based on Ericsson’s BSCS iXR4 offering together with data monetisation features such as PCRF will be integrated with Bhutan Telecom’s existing infrastructure. Bhutan Telecom plans to migrate its subscribers onto the new platform by the third quarter of 2016.

Tshewang Gyeltshen, CEO, Bhutan Telecom, stated, “We are delighted to further strengthen our partnership with Ericsson. This transformation will help us to standardize and modernize our billing systems. We will be able to introduce innovative offers for our customers, and at the same time manage differential charging options effectively. Paolo Colella, Head of Region India, Ericsson, added, “We feel privileged to partner with Bhutan Telecom in transforming their billing architecture. Bhutan Telecom will now be able to introduce new and innovative charging mechanisms quickly and flexibly for its subscribers, while keeping control of any revenue leakages at the same time. This will ensure greater customer satisfaction.”

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has awarded a contract to Ericsson for the transformation of its radio access network (RAN) infrastructure in Zambia. The move is expected to help Airtel meet growing subscriber demands for better and faster mobile internet connectivity.

The contract covers equipment, software and a range of professional services, including project management, systems integration and support. It also covers the transformation of existing 2G infrastructure and swapping of existing 3G sites. Further, as per the agreement, Ericsson will deploy equipment enabled with multi-standard, multi-band and multi-layer technologies that would facilitate the roll-out of higher technologies such as 5G in the future.