Oi to launch network management tender

Brazil’s largest telecoms company by revenues Telemar Norte Leste (Oi) is preparing to launch a tender for third-party management of parts of its network as an existing contract is expiring, reports Dow Jones Newswires quoting local daily Valor Economico. Earlier this year Oi handed a five-year USD1.6 billion contract to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to administer part of its network; a similar two-year USD1.2 billion contract with Alcatel-Lucent is now running out and the company is seeking new bids, according to the report. The network sections currently managed by Alcatel-Lucent cover areas previously served by Brasil Telecom, which Oi acquired earlier this year.