Telcordia bags five-year deal from unitech wireless

New Delhi
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Communication software service provider Telcordia today said it has received a five-year, multi-million dollar contract from telecom firm Unitech Wireless.

Under the agreement, Telcordia will provide real-time charging solution for Unitech's mobile pre-paid subscribers in all the circles where the telecom firm will operate, Telcordia Technologies India Country Manager Anuj Kapur said.

However, he declined to share the financial details of the deal.

Besides, recharging solutions, the US-based firm would also provide billing solutions for Unitech's value-added services, he added.

Telcordia is already providing pre-paid recharging solutions to Idea, Tata Communications and Aircel.

Unitech Wireless, one of the new operators to get licence, is planning to launch GSM-based mobile telephony services starting from the first five circles of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala by the end of this year.

The solution by Telcordia would power Unitech's pan-India network roll-out and support the introduction of interactive services and tariff plans.

Talking about the opportunities in the pre-paid segment, Kapur said, the mobile market is dominated by pre-paid users. Telecom operators usually earmark 4-5 percent of their capex for pre-paid solutions.

"So this segment offers a huge growth opportunity for us," he said.

According to a recent study by Gartner, prepaid connections accounted for more than 93 percent of all mobile connections in 2008 and it is expected to grow to more than 96 percent of the connection base by 2013, surpassing 741 million versus 312 million in 2008.

With the launch of 3G , the company sees more opportunities in the billing solutions.

"With 3G, the telecom firms will launch new interactive services which will need new billing platforms, " he added.