In a bid to strengthen service and operational services in Nigeria, UAE telecommunication company, Etisalat has signed a fresh agreement with its technical partner, Alcatel-Lucent at its Nigeria headquarters in Lagos.

This is the sixth phase of the agreement signed between both companies since the telecommunications company began operation in Nigeria in 2008.   The agreement is based on the provision of Establish Operate and Transfer Services for the establishment of a Public Mobile Cellular Service for Region 2 of its Nigerian network which comprises Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Kogi and Delta states.

According to Etisalat Nigeria CEO, Steven Evans; “This is a significant milestone as we move into the next phase of our network roll-out. We plan to increase our cell sites by an additional 1,000 in 2013 and this agreement is towards achieving that target. We are happy to be partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, in fulfillment of our promise to continuously deliver quality and innovative services to our customers every step of the way.”

He explained that the agreement with Alcatel-Lucent, an international mobile, fixed and Internet Protocol (IP) Technology Company; is for the provision of equipment and services for the expansion of its network in various states.

“This agreement being executed is for phase 6 of the project and it is to further expand and strengthen the network in the region. Under this phase 6, Alcatel is to build additional sites and provide the necessary equipment and services for the integration of the sites into the Etisalat Nigeria network.”

Etisalat Nigeria had sign a similar agreement with Huawei last September to supply equipment and services for the expansion of its network throughout Nigeria.

On his part, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Middle East & Africa, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Amr El-Leithy, collaborated that, “This new agreement further strengthens our long-standing relationship with Etisalat covering numerous projects, and demonstrates their confidence in our ability to build, deliver and deploy end-to-end complex networks with strong local expertise and support capabilities. We are committed to supporting Etisalat’s growth in Nigeria and ensure world class services for its customers, and we look forward to continuing our successful working relationship into the future.”