(Telecompaper) Vodafone has awarded a five-year contract to Ericsson as part of its Project Spring investment programme. Ericsson said it will upgrade and expand Vodafone's 2G and 3G networks and support the roll-out of 4G. This includes network services and the Ericsson 6000 base station series and Antenna Integrated Radio product. Ericsson did not say in which countries it will provide the equipment. Vodafone announced Project Spring last year. The three-year investment project will see the operator use GBP 6 billion of the proceeds from the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless to accelerate its network investments in key markets. Ericsson has been a Vodafone supplier for 30 years.