Motorola Snags Network Expansion Contract

Motorola this morning said its telecom equipment arm has won a $50 million network expansion for Nigeria’s state telephone operator.

Under terms of the deal, Motorola will provide a 2G circuit core, packet core and base stations to expand M-Tel’s coverage.

When work is completed later this year, the carrier will be able to offer its service throughout Nigeria and handle up to 1.3 million subscribers.

“Motorola has a strong presence in and commitment to Nigeria, as indicated by the opening of our office in Lagos in May of last year,” said Raphael Udegou, who manages Motorola’s operations there.

Margaret Rice-Jones, general manager of equipment for Motorola’s Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region, said the systems being bought by M-Tel are designed to keep capital expenses down while providing the flexibility to allow the carrier to add new features in the future.

The Nigeria deal comes on the heels of another multi-million deal for Motorola’s Europe, Middle East, Africa unit. Last month, the company inked a $19 million contract expansion to supply equipment to Kuwait’s largest wireless carrier.

Motorola, based outside of Chicago, is best known as a handset maker, but the company has been working to diversify both in its network equipment for wireless carriers and home networking sectors.