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Customer Success Story
Netherlands
VODAFONE
NETWORK MANAGEMENT
Ericsson’s Managed Services offering delivers enhanced performance of Vodafone Netherlands’ network
In close collaboration with Ericsson, Vodafone Netherlands
becomes the first in the Vodafone group to hand over
responsibility for the operation and maintenance of its
multivendor access, core and transport network.
Active in a hugely competitive arena, Vodafone Netherlands is
the second largest operator in the mobile market with 4.5
million customers. While mobile is Vodafone’s core offering,
its aspirations lie in moving into integrated mobile and PC
communication services through wireless 3G, HSDPA and
fixed-line broadband services such as DSL. Although well
Customer Profile Vodafone Netherlands is a 100 percent subsidiary of
the Vodafone Group, the largest mobile operator in the
world. It started in the Netherlands as Libertel in 1995
when it became the second largest GSM operator
in the market. This is a position it maintains today,
demonstrated by its revenue share in the Dutch market
and over 4.5 million customers.
Website: www.vodafone.com
positioned in this mature market, Vodafone Netherlands is
not alone in its ambitions. The Netherlands has a mobile
penetration of more than 120 percent and has already
experienced a consolidation, with five operators merging
into three with next to that more than 40 MVNOs.
Driven by these rapidly changing market conditions
and the need to stay ahead of the competition,
Vodafone Netherlands decided to partner with Ericsson
in a managed services agreement. Adjusting its operating
model and organization, the operator took action to
become more flexible, reduce costs and ultimately
pursue its goal of being the country’s communications
leader. Ger Coolen, CTO, Vodafone Netherlands, details
the outcome of the contract: “The Managed Services
solution has brought us exactly what we were hoping
for; the network quality was maintained, we have made
cost savings and the employees that transferred were
taken care of. We have been able to focus on new areas
of development for the company without worrying about
the technical details. We have a long-standing relationship
with Ericsson and building on that it will definitely be
one of the partners that we will use in the future.”
The five-year contract includes engineering, implementation
and operation of Vodafone’s access, core and transport
network. The implementation was carried out in two
phases. Firstly Ericsson took over the radio access
network and approximately 170 employees were
transferred to Ericsson. The project involved a vast range
of responsibilities, from highly technical IP engineering
to negotiations with landlords to build antennas on
rooftops. The second phase included the management
of the core and transport network and the transfer of an
additional 115 employees from Vodafone to Ericsson.
Ger Coolen explains why Vodafone chose a managed
services agreement: “In this competitive market, the
network is no longer a unique selling point. We wanted
to retain our competitive position and this was not
determined by the technology we use but on how we
create value for our customers. It was more beneficial for
Vodafone to focus on the things that were really important
to our customers and leave the network to someone
more capable of providing the technical support.”
Transferring the responsibility and resources to Ericsson
enables Vodafone Netherlands to evolve from a technology
oriented company to a customer-services oriented
company. The quality of the network was maintained and
the shift to a partnering model allows Vodafone to focus on
Rene Herlaar,
Head of Enabling Platforms, Vodafone Netherlands
Not only have we retained our competitive advantage but from an EBITDA position we have become stronger.”
additional elements of the value chain that will encourage
growth and enable the introduction of new products.
The success of the project relied on the close collaboration
of both partners to overcome the challenges faced. Jeroen
Dorrestein, General Manager, Ericsson, Netherlands
explains: “For Ericsson, it was important to think
and act like an operator in order to understand what
Vodafone wanted from the contract. One method of
measuring the results of the Managed Services contract
is through a KPI chart which indicates a positive result
in green and a negative result in red. With the majority
of KPIs in green the results showed solid and good
technical performance from Ericsson, however this did
not always represent the true coverage. For example
if there was an area in red that covered a motorway
or a busy area this was still a problem. So we worked
very closely with Vodafone to ensure that the KPIs
were a true reflection of the success of the project.”
To make continuous improvements, Ericsson performed
a ‘health check’ to refresh the relationship between
Ericsson and Vodafone as well as to revitalize the
project. Meetings were set up in addition to the regular
governance meetings in order to further emphasize the
frequent communication between the partners – a key
to success in any managed services partnership. After
close collaboration on the first project, the knowledge
and experience gained and the alignment of expectations
meant that the second phase ran in an even more smooth
and structured way and was therefore executed faster.
As this was first time that the Vodafone Group had
transferred operational responsibility for part of its
network to an external partner, this was a great
opportunity for Ericsson to showcase its services
capabilities. Already, Ericsson had supplied a
substantial part of Vodafone Netherlands’ network
and it was looking for ways to diversify its business
portfolio with Vodafone to strengthen and enhance
the overall relationship. Ericsson provided Vodafone
Netherlands with a full scope service, resulting in
lower operational expenses and top-quality network
performance as well as enhancing the company’s
platform for growth. Ericsson was chosen based
on its competitive edge in managed services and
Vodafone recognized the benefit of having one
partner for its access, core and transport network.
Rene Herlaar, Head of Enabling Platforms,
Vodafone Netherlands explains the benefits for
Vodafone: “Not only have we retained our competitive
advantage but from an EBITDA position we have
become stronger. As a company we have gained
flexibility and can focus more on our core business
activities and those areas that bring value to our
customers without having to handle the technical side.
It is important to use trustworthy partners and have a
good relationship on all levels of the organization and
we have had that with Ericsson for many years.”
Overview
Customer: Vodafone Netherlands
Customer Objective
• Improvemarketposition
• Reducecosts
• DevelopintegratedmobileandPCcommunicationservices
• Greaterfocusoncustomerservicesthantechnology
Ericsson Solution
• ManagedServices,includingresponsibilityforthedesign,planning,buildingandoperationofaccess,coreandtransportnetworks
Customer Benefits
• Greaterflexibility
• Loweropex
• Improvednetworkquality.
EricssonAB
SE-164 80 Stockholm
Telephone: +46 10 719 0000
Email: asq.us@ericsson.com
www.ericsson.com
31/213 31-FGB 101 127 Uen Rev A1
© Ericsson AB 2008-2010
JeroenDorrestein,
General Manager, Ericsson, Netherlands
It was important to think and act like an operator in order to understand what Vodafone wanted from the contract.”
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