UK firm inks pact with TCS to hasten 5G rollout

TCS has been Three UK's partner for 15 years, working with a variety of business units and has been instrumental in supporting the company's ambition of becoming the world's first telco to host all its applications entirely on the public cloud.

IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday said it has been selected by Three UK, one of the UK's leading mobile network carriers, to help the latter configure its mobile network for its ongoing rollout of 5G services.

Three is in the process of deploying a new 5G radio access network which already lives in 175 towns and cities in the UK, across more than 1,000 sites, providing its customers with access to next-generation 5G connectivity.

"It selected TCS as its partner to manage the configuration of a new core next generation mobile network, and ensure it integrates correctly with the 5G radio access network.

“This work will include configuring the core network for new site deployments, site upgrades, performance management, and 3G and 4G tuning changes," a statement said.

TCS' software will speed-up configuration checking and reduce manual errors, ensuring first time right network configuration, it added.

TCS is also providing 24x7 support across the network for configuration corrections and ad-hoc site testing.

These improvements will help Three deliver faster, secure and more reliable 5G services to its customers.

"Three UK's 5G roll-out is underpinned by our agility in bringing services to market.

“Our decision to partner with TCS was based on this need to deliver at pace whilst being flexible to changing demands.

“TCS were able to rapidly mobilise and are now embedded in our 5G delivery to support our 5G journey," Three UK chief networks officer Carlo Melis said.

TCS has been Three UK's partner for 15 years, working with a variety of business units and has been instrumental in supporting the company's ambition of becoming the world's first telco to host all its applications entirely on the public cloud, the statement said.

"We look forward to expanding our work with Three as we enter this exciting new period of widespread 5G consumer availability in the UK," Carol Wilson, head of communications, media and information services business – Europe and UK at TCS, said.

"With our deep telecommunications industry expertise and continued investments and innovation in 5G, we are the ideal partner to make this a success.

“Our new partnership will help Three's network to continue to provide the standout experience their customers have come to expect," Wilson added.

Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters