Ericsson to upgrade Orange telecom network

AMMAN — Orange Jordan and Ericsson on Wednesday announced the launch of a JD15 million project to upgrade the telecom operator’s network, increase Internet speed and boost coverage across the Kingdom.

Under the project, the Swedish multinational technology company will install new equipment at Orange Jordan’s radio base stations, which will help reduce the company’s electricity bill by about 40 per cent, Orange Jordan CEO Jean-Francois Thomas said at a press conference.

The new project will save about JD1.5 million to JD2 million annually, which is crucial to address the rising electricity bill, especially after electricity prices increased in 2013, Thomas noted.

“After the government increased power prices, our electricity bill rose by about JD8 million annually,” he added.

The new equipment that will be installed to boost Orange Jordan’s network is Fourth Generation (4G)-ready, which means that it can be quickly adjusted to provide 4G services in the Kingdom when the company decides to introduce them, according to the CEO.

The project is expected to be completed by September, he said.

“The project will help in strengthening the quality of services, improve coverage, increase speed of data and significantly address the issue of latency in connecting to the Internet,” Thomas added.

Tarek Saadi, president of Ericsson’s north Middle East unit, said the installation of the new equipment will help enhance the network’s performance and boost its capabilities in handling larger volumes of data.

“The new [devices] will also help protect the environment as they consume less electricity and are likely to save about 50 per cent of power consumption,” Saadi added at the press conference.

As part of the agreement, Ericsson will upgrade Orange Jordan’s existing packet core and renew its radio access network by replacing the old radio base station. 

“The energy-efficient compact solution will allow Orange to develop new, high-speed mobile broadband services while reducing the deployment cost,” Saadi said.