Russia’s VimpelCom owner to pay $1 bln to Ericsson for IT upgrade

MOSCOW, Jun 14 (PRIME) -- Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Ltd., the sole owner of Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, has agreed to buy software from Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson for more than U.S. $1 billion, VimpelCom Ltd. said in a statement Monday.

The deal will allow VimpelCom Ltd. to upgrade IT infrastructure in 11 countries of the holding’s presence, which will become the biggest project in the telecom industry’s history.

Ericsson will install and maintain work of the holding’s business support systems, which include billing.

VimpelCom Ltd. also owns Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni, as well as operators in Bangladesh, Canada, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, among others.

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