Nokia Siemens Networks has clinched a seven-year deal to supply managed services and an integrated core network for Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA).
NSN pipped existing VHA network vendor Ericsson to the 2G/3G deal, as well as Chinese vendor Huawei, to win the contract, which is reported to be worth A$1 billion ($907.3m).
Under the deal, NSN said it would supply its Flexi NG core platform and provide service management for the core, transmission and radio networks.
The contract also requires the integration of the core networks and operations of the two partners, Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3G Australia, who merged their businesses last year.
The decision is a big loss to Ericsson in Australia. It is Hutchison’s major network supplier in Australia, as well as Vodafone’s 2G and regional 3G network vendor.
It is also the sole vendor for Telstra’s 800MHz 3G network, but it will face off against NSN and Huawei for the market leader’s LTE business.
For its part, NSN will supply equipment for Optus’ upcoming LTE trial in Sydney. It supplied Vodafone’s metro 3G network.