- Croatian operator to re-insource construction and maintenance tasks when contract with Ericsson Nikola Tesla expires.
- Increased flexibility and speed cited as key reasons.
Hrvatski Telekom has opted to re-insource its network construction and maintenance operations from main technology partner Ericsson Nikola Tesla (ENT), saying the move will help it speed up service improvements.
The switch — due to take place on 1 January 2024 after ENT’s current deal comes to an end — sees the Croatian operator reverse on a September 2014 decision to transfer the function out of its business (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #33).
HT did not reveal the number of employees it will re-absorb. But back in 2014, the unit — which runs “planning, building, and operating activities” for the operator’s fixed-line and mobile networks — was said to have included about 630 full-time staff.
While HT originally decided to outsource network maintenance in a bid to improve efficiency and lower costs, it appears times have changed and the operator now sees it as a “strategic” function.
Chief Executive Kostas Nebis asserted that returning the unit to in-house management will “improve business flexibility in line with industry trends, and create prerequisites for further development of fixed and mobile networks”.
“ The new operating model will allow us to optimise further our operations while delivering even better and faster services to our customers. ”
Nebis.
Chief Technology Officer Boris Drilo added that “taking back planning, building, and operating activities from ENT will allow us to further improve our in-house capabilities with an aim to further strengthen [the] quality of our network and services for our customers”.
HT was careful to credit ENT for managing the unit since the original switch, and particularly during what the latter called the “most demanding period, from 2019 to 2023”. ENT stressed it had “successfully with quality and to [the] satisfaction of HT fulfilled our contractual obligations, showing that we know how to professionally deal with all the challenges, even in the most difficult business conditions”.
The vendor is the key network services and technology supplier of both HT and its subsidiaries Crnogorski Telekom and HT Mostar, including via an exclusive deal to provide the tech enabling HT’s 5G network, which went live in October 2020 (Deutsche Telekomwatch, #107 and passim).
