Mobile operator Telenor has awarded a 5-year contract to Ericsson for multivendor managed services to support Telenor's nationwide network rollout in Myanmar. Late last year, Telenor also signed a frame agreement with Ericsson to supply radio-access network (RAN) and associated services for a significant portion of Telenor's network in the country. 

Telenor's network in Myanmar is expected to cover 90 percent of the country's population of more than 60 million in five years.

It will be a multi-standard network comprising 2G and 3G to provide voice services and high-speed data connectivity. Ericsson's multi-standard network solution will be used in the deployment, along with 2G and 3G equipment that can be upgraded for future requirements. The multi-standard network combines GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA, LTE, IP-based transport systems and its common Operations Support Systems in a fully optimized RAN. This provides flexibility for the network to be tailored to the traffic profile in different parts of the country, and to integrate new spectrum bands as they become available.