Nokia to start global managed services in India from July

New Delhi, June 19 (UNI) In a signficant development, Mobile handsetmaker Nokia today announced it will begin its global managed services business in India from July 2006, and extend its service contract with Hutchison Essar to cover 19 of the 23 operator's circles.

''Nokia managed services will be led globally from India effective July 2006,'' company's Country Head for Networks Ashish Choudhary said.

The move underscores Nokia's commitment to tap global services market growth, as well as India's outstanding outsourcing ecosystem and innovation pedigree, he added.

The five-year extension of the contract for 10 additional circles builds on the initial nine circles, awarded by Hutchison Essar to Nokia earlier this year.

''Our services strategy of helping operators to lower costs is bearing fruit, and the broader shift by the Networks Business Group from a product to a solutions focus is gathering pace,'' Senior Vice-President for Services Networks Bosco Novak said.

Nokia further announced that its first Global Networks Solutions Center (GNSC) in Chennai had started operations, and will eventually serve as the hub for other Nokia operations centers around the world.

The Chennai GNSC offers a wide variety of services including remote care, remote integration, consulting, planning and optimisation, and is currently supporting operators including Bharti Tele-Ventures.

Mr Chowdhary, currently the Country Head for Networks in India, will move over as the new global head of managed services by the end of the year.

UNI DKS/VJ RA PM1742