Idea Cellular has awarded a $100 million four-year contract to Ericsson. The contract requires Ericsson to supply radio access, microwave transmission and core network equipment, including its mobile telephony softswitch solution. Rollout is planned to begin shortly, with commercial launch scheduled for May 2008. The deal could be a precursor to Idea Cellular getting spectrum from the government to commence services in the Mumbai circle. The company has been awaiting allocation of spectrum for nearly a year since it received the licence for Mumbai in 2006.