STel awards system integration contract to Tech Mahindra
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 23 November 2009, 21:22 IST   |    3 Comments
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STel awards system integration contract to Tech Mahindra
New Delhi: Telecom entrant STel has awarded a five-year IT outsourcing contract to Tech Mahindra. STel, which plans to compete with incumbent phone firms, including Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, had shortlisted Tech Mahindra and Wipro for outsourcing system integration-managed services. The contract also includes maintenance of the phone firm's business and operational support systems. A senior STel Executive confirmed the transaction, but a Tech Mahindra Spokesman declined to offer any specific comments, reports Economic Times. "This contract does not include any fixed investments by STel, and is based on 'pay as you go' model," another person added. Under this model, a service provider offers different services to a customer as and when required, and charges a fee based either on number of users or number of transactions completed. This model helps customers avoid high capital expenditure in setting up their own IT infrastructure. Chennai based STel plans to start rolling out GSM services pan-India during the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The company has unified access services licenses and spectrum to operate in six Indian states - Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam. The telecom service providers in India opt to share passive infrastructure, such as telecom towers, and outsource non-core activities, such as network and technology management, to reduce costs and roll out services faster, the second person said. Recently, Tech Mahindra also bagged a 2,000 crore deal for end-to-end outsourcing of IT applications and infrastructure from Etisalat Telecom, a joint venture between the UAE-based Etisalat and the Dynamix Balwas group. It also won a $500 million outsourcing contract from new telecom entrant Swan Telecom in August this year. STel had earlier applied for licenses in all the 22 circles, but was eventually granted a license for only six circles.

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