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Press Releases - April 2005

Ericsson wins 3G contract with VIBO Telecom in Taiwan

Date: Friday, April 22 2005 - Ericsson has strengthened its 3G position in Taiwan by winning a contract with WCDMA operator VIBO Telecom. Ericsson has been chosen to deliver a turnkey solution for VIBO's core network.

The agreement comprises a turnkey solution for core network equipment, both circuit-switching and packet-data, transport network and Systems Integrations, as well as a full portfolio of services such as training, network design, network rollout and technical support to support VIBO's planned 3G launch.

"Ericsson's successful global track record on 3G rollout and strong local support distinguished it from the competition," said David Wang, CEO of VIBO Telecom. We plan to roll out our 3G service in the fourth quarter of this year to enhance the customer experience with an innovative and user-friendly 3G multimedia lifestyle. We believe Ericsson can meet our ambitious plan."

"We are proud to be the partner of choice for VIBO and we are fully committed to yet another success story with VIBO in this market," said Sean Gowran, President, Ericsson Taiwan. "More importantly, the new partnership will help strengthen our local services resource as a foundation for even stronger growth in the future."

The WCDMA contract with VIBO Telecom confirms Ericsson's position as the world's leading supplier of 3G mobile systems. Today Ericsson supplies more commercial WCDMA services than any other system-infrastructure provider.

Implementation of this project will begin immediately, with VIBO's 3G

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

GSM Association Congratulates Pakistan on Reaffirming Telecommunications Policies

London, UK, 11th April 2005: The GSM Association - the global trade association for GSM mobile operators - today welcomed the government of Pakistan's reaffirmation of its mobile and fixed line telecommunications policies, thereby boosting the growth potential of the country's mobile communications market.

"As a result of the government's confirmation of its regulatory policy, we see a vibrant outlook for telecommunications investment in Pakistan," said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association. "We have seen that clarity of policy and a balanced, stable regulatory framework is essential for attracting and maintaining significant levels of inward investment. Enforcing agreed policies, rules and regulations is vital for Pakistan to realize its tremendous potential."

The GSMA also applauded the efforts of the country's mobile operators, who will invest USD $1 billion in 2005 to upgrade and roll out networks, as well as an additional $4 billion in capital expenditure over the next five years. This unprecedented scale of investment in network infrastructure alone is additional to the $291 million investment per operator for network licenses paid by recent entrants to the market.

This scale of investment compares with a total of $970 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in all sectors of the Pakistan economy last year.

Pakistan has a population of 150 million and mobile penetration is just 4.5 percent. With nine million mobile subscribers today and a GDP per capita close to $500, it is considered a low income country by the World Bank. Clarity and stability in the telecommunications regulatory environment will lead to a significant increase in mobile penetration - industry forecasts estimate 50 million subscribers within the next 3-5 years - with large scale inward investment to fund expected growth.

Pakistan's mobile operators have opened the way to accessing capital markets through the Export Credit Agencies, in order to secure financing for network equipment and roll out, an important break-through for financing of private investment in the country.

Pakistan has six licensed mobile operators. Four mobile operators have deployed in the past few years and are now upgrading their infrastructure--Mobilink, Paktel, Ufone, and Instaphone. Telenor and Warid, two additional mobile operators recently licensed by the government will launch their networks in March and May of this year respectively. Each new licensee will pay $291 million to the government as the result of an open bid process. This also sets the price for renewal of existing licenses for existing operators.

The GSMA has expressed concern regarding backdoor entry into cellular mobile services by local loop operators, which were issued licenses to provide competition to the fixed-line incumbent using wireless local loop technology

The GSMA said that this could undermine the positive investment momentum in mobile telecommunications in the country. However, it added: "the authorities in Pakistan have shown the strong commitment of the country to its regulatory regime. By specifying that local loop operators can use only one cell/sector per subscriber and prohibiting handoff, Pakistan's wireless local loop regulations are the clearest in the world."

Ericsson launches interactive mobile TV

Date: Monday, April 11 2005 - Ericsson has used the Milia TV and broadcasting event to demonstrate an application that truly brings interactive television to multimedia mobile devices.

In the first showcase of this kind, Ericsson is demonstrating how an existing interactive TV format can be fully aligned with mobile devices with multimedia capabilities. Viewers are able to interact with mobile TV shows, via voting or greeting (SMS-to-TV or MMS-to-TV), just by pushing a response key. Mobile TV viewers can also access such additional services as shopping via the mobile TV.

"Our solution makes it possible for viewers to interact with a show they are watching on their mobile device in a whole new way, creating a much richer TV experience with the help of the mobile channel," said Kurt Sillén, Vice President and Head of Ericsson Mobility World. "Apart from simultaneously watching and interacting with TV on a mobile device, the new solution also allows the device to be used as an interactive remote control when sitting in front of TV at home."

Ericsson's end-to-end solution is based on existing technology and can be up and running within a short time. For operators, it means increased traffic and data revenues. They will also be able to position themselves as an interactive service provider towards the TV industry.

TV networks can profit from content fees, additional advertising revenues and paid interactions such as voting, greeting and shopping. And because it opens the way to new TV formats, it also widens target groups and builds customer loyalty while giving end-users an advanced TV experience.

The interactive mobile TV application was developed in cooperation with two Ericsson partners, conVISUAL and Communology.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.