Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the BASE core network for a period of 7 years. This will allow BASE to reduce operating expenditure, increase its focus on customers and strengthen its position in the Belgian market.

Bart Vandesompele, spokesperson for BASE, says: "This agreement will allow us to focus even more on serving our customers with the quality and reliability they are used to. Managed services are part of our BASE strategy and we have every confidence in Ericsson, a longtime partner and important supplier for BASE since the beginning."

"This contract with BASE further strengthens our global leadership and reinforces the trend toward managed services, in which operators and vendors work as partners to reduce costs, improve network quality, optimize assets and bring new services to market as quickly as possible," says Hans Vestberg, Head of Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson.

Ericsson's business partnership with BASE started in 1998, when BASE started its operations.

As the undisputed leader in managed services, Ericsson has announced 48 managed services contracts with operators worldwide since 2002.  In all current managed services contracts, excluding hosting, Ericsson is managing networks that together serve more than 42 million subscribers worldwide