Ericsson and Verizon today both denied a Bloomberg report that cited comments from Jean-Claude Geha, head of Ericsson’s managed services business, who said the Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer is in discussions with AT&T and Verizon about managing their network infrastructures.
When reached for comment, Ericsson spokeswoman Kathy Egan Wummer said that while Ericsson typically engages in discussions with all its customers regarding all of its offerings, including managed services, Ericsson “did not mean to imply that we were in specific discussions with AT&T and Verizon regarding the management of their wireless networks. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
Verizon too, denied the report, saying it was inaccurate.
“We do not outsource our network management,” said Tom Pica, spokesman for Verizon Wireless.
Wireless Week has reached out to AT&T and is awaiting comment on the matter.
In the Bloomberg report, Geha said that interest from carriers looking to outsource operations is increasing. Ericsson has a contract for managing Sprint’s networks.
Even before Sprint announced its ambitious Network Vision initiative, the third-largest U.S. carrier signed a managed services agreement with Ericsson called Network Advantage. Under Network Advantage, Ericsson assumes responsibility for the day-to-day services, provisioning, and maintenance of all Sprint-owned wireless and wireline networks.
