Alcatel-Lucent will run Belgian carrier's operation

Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Monday said it will take over responsibility for operating and rolling out the network of Royal KPN NV's (KPN.AE) Belgian mobile operator BASE.
Alcatel-Lucent will now take charge of all network operations and rollout while BASE will still own the network and focus on areas such as network design and customer service.

The deal comes on top of a series of outsourcing contracts BASE already had in place with a number of companies, said Andreas Herzog, the head of Alcatel-Lucent's managed services business.
Under the agreement around 29 employees will move to Alcatel-Lucent from BASE, Belgium's third-largest mobile operator with about 3.4 million subscribers.

Analysts have said they expect an increase in outsourcing deals between network operators and equipment vendors in the coming months, as operators seek to trim costs.

Financial details of the contract weren't disclosed, but Alcatel-Lucent's Herzog said it was "roughly in the same ballpark" as other recent announcements in the sector.

Last week, Nokia Siemens Networks unveiled an outsourcing contract with France Telecom SA's (FTE) Orange in Spain while LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC) said it had signed a similar deal with Vodafone Group PLC (VOD).



By Jethro Mullen