MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Communications Ltd , India's No. 3 mobile phone carrier by customers, said on Wednesday it would award a multi-year contract valued at more than $1 billion to Franco-American telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent to manage its network.

Alcatel-Lucent currently operates a joint venture with Reliance Communications to manage the Indian carrier's network.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Anand Basu)