IT solutions provider Wipro said it won a five-year IT infrastructure and applications managed-services contract from Grameenphone, the Bangladesh telecom operator owned by Norway’s Telenor.
Under the agreement, Wipro will manage the entire IT infrastructure of the largest mobile telecommunications operator in Bangladesh.
It will be in control of end-to-end application development and management, infrastructure support and maintenance and back office processes for GP.
Wipro will be setting up a new delivery centre in Bangladesh.
The company already has IT outsourcing agreements with certain mobile operators in India, such as Bharti Airtel.
“This partnership closely aligns with Wipro’s vision to localize, expand its presence and explore new businesses opportunities in the country,” the company said.
The Indian company said it would deploy its artificial intelligence solution known as HOLMES to manage the workload.
“Telenor is a strategic client for us and this engagement further strengthens our relationship with Telenor,” said Anil K Jain, Senior Vice President & Global Head – Communications Business Unit, Wipro Limited.
The HOLMES platform has helped Wipro reduce its manpower requirement by about 12,000 in the first nine months of it being introduced.
While automation is seen as a threat by some within the IT industry, others see it as an inevitable step that has to be taken by companies like Wipro to remain relevant in a fast-changing world.
Grameenphone operates GSM services in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 Mhz frequency bands.