Under the arrangement Ericsson will handle the day-to-day network operations for Hutchison's paging, CDMA and WCDMA (3G) networks, including customer support. A special unit will be formed within Ericsson dedicated to managing services for Hutchison.
The current Ericsson team devoted to Hutchison will be joined by about 240 technical and IT staff from Hutchison. Steve Wright, spokesperson for Hutchison, said it was possible some positions may be lost.
"But it will be a small proportion," he said. "We don't force people to make the change, and some people may decide not to."
Kevin Russell, CEO for Hutchison Telecoms, said in a statement that the technical challenges of 3G require a new approach to managed service delivery. Technical challenges aside, many industry pundits feel the market will not support 3G services, and both Telstra and Optus have delayed introducing the technology.
According to Wright, Hutchison plan to introduce its 3G network in the first quarter of next year, launching in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Adelaide and Perth will follow.
Hutchison currently have CDMA networks in Sydney and Melbourne, and a licensing agreement with Telstra for national coverage.
