Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Zain - Airtel will manage network from India, ending outsourcing contracts with manufacturers

[daily independent] Over 300 employees of Zain Nigeria, who were hitherto outsourced to Ericsson Alcatel, technical partners of Zain Nigeria, may have lost their jobs following the acquisition of Zain Africa network by Bharti Airtel of India.

According to inside sources at Zain Nigeria, the 300 workers lost their jobs, following what they describe as Bharti Airtel's decision to monitor their core network from India, while maintaining a few staff on ground.

"As you know, the Indians are guru in IT, so they can decide to do anything with the networks and they have the competency," the source, who pleaded anonymity told Daily Independent.

Infact, the source also informed Daily Independent that most of the IT support workers in Zain are only leaving on borrowed time, because according to him, with the coming of the new Indian owners, many would lose their jobs .

Zain is known to have outsourced its technical services to Ericsson-Alcatel in preparation for the eventual acquisition of the network. Though, some of the outsources workers had grumbled with the development then, they could not help it since they had no option. However, the acquisition of Zain by Bharti Airtel is believed to have complicated their situation.

When Daily Independent contacted Emeka Oparah, Head, Sponsorship and Corporate Communication of Zain, to confirm the development, he said he works for Zain not Ericsson, stressing that he cannot make any comment.

Nigeria: 300 May Lose Job Over Bharti Airtel Acquisition of Zain

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