Ericsson and Indra to take over Telefónica's pre-paid billing solution, related operation support systems and about 500 employees.

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Telefónica, one of the world's largest telecom operators with operations in 25 countries and some 265 million customers, has entered an agreement with Sweden's Ericsson, the world leader in telecoms networks, and Indra, a leading Spanish IT multinational, the Swedish company said Wednesday.

The agreement includes transfer of Telefónica's complete pre-paid billing assets, related operations support systems together with about 500 employees that develop, operate and maintain the solution that today serves about 100 million subscribers in the Telefónica Group.

"The agreement will strengthen Ericsson's position within systems integration and within the areas of business support systems (BSS) and operation support systems (OSS). It is an important complement to Ericsson's already strong billing and charging portfolio providing Ericsson with opportunities to further develop and expand capabilities for the BSS solution with possible commercialization to other customers", the company said in a statement.

The assets will be transferred to Ericsson and Indra, effective October, 2010.