NII Holdings has selected Nokia Siemens to manage network operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru. The company is a provider of mobile communication services operating under the Nextel brand in Latin America. NII intends to enhance the service quality and customer experience.

Alan Strauss, vice president and chief technology officer for NII, told Business Week that “our focus on delivering our differentiated wireless service is strenghtened by this partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks, as it allows us to increase our operational flexibility, improve cost efficiencies, and mprove our service quality.”

Nokia Siemens will provide support in planning, designing, building, maintaining, optimizing, and operating NII networks in the aforementioned countries. In addition, about 1000 employees of NII will become Nokia Siemens Network employees. Nokia Siemens will provide day to day services, provisioning and maintances support for its owned networks as part of the contract signed with NII.

The agreement allows NII to retain full ownership of its network assets and continue to have the last word on all major decisions regarding network strategy, technology, vendor selections and investment decision.