Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg: Mobile broadband is becoming a mass market

With 128 commercial HSPA networks rolled out and more than 300 HSPA devices available around the world, mobile broadband is moving quickly toward becoming a mass market, Ericsson President and Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric Svanberg said today at the company's Strategy and Technology Summit in London.

As evidence he gave several examples where, in commercially launched HSPA networks, data traffic has quadrupled over the past year and is accelerating. Ericsson has laid the foundation for this development with its technology, which connects more than one billion people around the world.

Svanberg said: "This is an exciting development in our industry. HSPA with speeds of 7.2 Mbps is now being launched, and we will see embedded modems in early 2008. This indicates that mobile broadband is already becoming part of our daily lives."

Svanberg also elaborated on the continued demand for telecommunications in developing markets in which GSM is built out for coverage and capacity and, in parallel, networks are upgraded to HSPA.

Svanberg continued: "We see clearly that the mobile phone will be essential in closing the digital divide. Mobility is a key contributor to productivity and quality of life in developing countries".

In mature markets, mobile broadband services are becoming more prominent in peoples' lives as networks become capable of delivering them. At the same time, there are major expansions in fixed broadband networks, in which intelligence is being moved toward the edge.

Other speakers from Ericsson at the Strategy and Technology Summit were Karl-Henrik Sundström, CFO, Joakim Westh, head of strategy and Håkan Eriksson, Chief Technology Officer. Featured were also speakers from Sony Ericsson; Miles Flint, CEO, Björn Ahlberg, head of Content & Service Development, and Howard Lewis, head of PBU Entry.

Ericsson and Endemol sign global partnership

Ericsson and Endemol International B.V. today announced a global partnership agreement to develop interactive TV and user-generated content via Ericsson's 'Me-On-TV' solution.

The Ericsson 'Me-On-TV' solution was developed in partnership with Endemol, a global leader in TV and digital entertainment, and Dutch technology company Triple IT.

'Me-On-TV' is a network and device-independent technology, allowing consumers to upload, publish and share live or pre-recorded video content via any mobile device, from anywhere to any screen around the world. Consumers can transmit to websites, TV broadcasts, or stay in contact with friends in a community. It also allows broadcasters, internet sites, and mobile network operators to directly manage live and on demand content via state-of-the-are editorial management tools.

Jan Wäreby, Senior Vice President and Head of Ericsson's multimedia business, says: "This global partnership flags Ericsson's commitment to establish a leading position in multimedia. It shows our partnership approach with innovators in complementary fields to develop consumer solutions for multiple screens that can benefit media companies and operators alike."

William Linders, Executive Director of Digital Media at Endemol International, says: "We're delighted to be working with Ericsson on this exciting new technology. The market for digital content is rapidly evolving and 'Me-On-TV' could have a significant impact on the way consumers interact with TV and digital media."

'Me-On-TV' will be offered as a white-label service to content aggregators such as broadcasters, internet sites, and network operators. It will be delivered as an end-to-end service, fully integrated, hosted and managed by Ericsson.

Endemol will act as a distributor for 'Me-On-TV', licensing the technology as an integrated service in existing and newly developed TV and multimedia formats. 'Me-On-TV' is already being used by Endemol in the Netherlands. Last season's Big Brother TV series saw ex-housemates using the technology to communicate with the house, and this week Endemol in the Netherlands launched the "Ik op TV" format on TV and the internet, in which 'Me-On-TV' is used by citizens to broadcast live and recorded content from their mobile phones, as well as to broadcast live interviews to the program.

Ericsson unveils innovative 'green' base station site concept with Scandinavian design

Ericsson today unveils an innovative radio base station site concept that is not only better for the environment but more cost-efficient to adopt and run, and more attractive to look at.

The modern design, from renowned Scandinavian architect Thomas Sandell, is a completely new approach to site architecture - the 5m-diameter, 40m-high flexible concrete tower encapsulates all radio base station equipment, including the antennas.

The aesthetics of the site concept, named the Ericsson Tower Tube, have been further enhanced by the choice of construction materials. The flexible concrete tower can be colored and branded to the operator's specific needs to either blend in with its surroundings or become an attractive landmark for the local community.

And the concrete itself has a lower environmental impact than traditional steel, producing 30 percent less CO2 emissions during production and transportation.

Diverging from standard design, the radio base station is placed at the top of the tower cutting the distance between it and the antenna. This gives capacity and coverage benefits for the cellular network and can together with the fact that no active cooling is needed reduce energy consumption up to 40 percent.

Furthermore, as the new design occupies less land, 60-75 percent less than conventional sites, site acquisition is easier. Being a self-contained structure, operators can also avoid the need for security fences and the cost of maintaining and patrolling them.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio, Ericsson, says: "The appearance of radio base station sites has not really been considered before. They have essentially been a steel tower and a container surrounded by a chain-link fence.

"With this new approach, we not only create a more attractive look for this essential piece of community architecture, but we have also developed a design that is better for the environment and more cost-efficient to run."

Ericsson and Texas Instruments to co-develop innovative 3G solutions for handset manufacturers

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), the world's leading telecom supplier, and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN), the global leader in silicon solutions for wireless communications, today announce that the companies will form a strategic technology engagement to develop custom solutions for new Open OS enabled 3G devices.

Solutions from the technology created by the two companies will combine small and power efficient 3G modems from Ericsson Mobile Platforms with high-performance OMAP(TM) applications processors from TI. Solutions from the joint engagement will include OMAP, custom basebands and connectivity technologies and will be capable of supporting the major Open OS, which offer easy access to a rich array of applications and services. The result of this joint effort will enable all device manufacturers to offer advanced Open OS handsets for both the high-end and the rapidly growing mid-range market.

The collaboration between Ericsson and TI will enable handset manufacturers to deliver the exciting mobile entertainment and multimedia experiences that consumers around the world are increasingly demanding. Ericsson's access technology leadership, current HSPA-enabled platforms, and future HSPA evolution and LTE technologies, combined with the cutting-edge multimedia performance enabled by TI's OMAP 2, OMAP 3 and future generations of OMAP processors, will continue to push the performance boundaries of mobile devices and mobile entertainment features.

By leveraging TI's OMAP platform with Open OS support for Windows® Mobile, Symbian S60, Symbian UIQ and Linux®, these solutions will provide OEMs and operators with a robust and flexible architecture for applications and services deployment, enabling easier delivery and management of services and content. This enables handset manufacturers and mobile operators to differentiate their products through rich, easy-to-use and customizable user interfaces, and through a robust and flexible application architecture.

The result of the joint effort will bring to market an evolving portfolio of wireless technology platforms with Open OS support to reduce complexity, investment and time-to-market for device manufacturers. The solutions, which seamlessly integrate the modem and applications processor, will be presented in one pre-verified and tested platform reference design. This approach will drastically reduce development and verification efforts previously undertaken by device manufacturers, enabling customers to rapidly bring highly advanced yet competitively priced products to market.

The joint solutions will also benefit from the Ericsson Mobile Platforms IOT program, one of the industry's most extensive interoperability testing processes, guaranteeing full compliance with operator requirements, speeding up time to market and securing an easy roll-out of products.

Greg Delagi, senior vice president of TI's Wireless Terminals Business Unit, says: "It's a tribute to the long-standing collaborative relationship between EMP and TI that we can tap into and combine each company's unique wireless expertise in order to deliver the most timely, targeted solutions to the market. TI's broad, proven product portfolio and advanced manufacturing capabilities have continued to adjust to the demanding requirements of EMP's customer base. We believe that today's announcement will build on what TI can bring to EMP and what both companies together can bring to this vital, dynamic industry."

Robert Puskaric, head of Ericsson's mobile platforms' unit, says: "Ericsson is clear in its commitment to design and offer a portfolio of flexible, innovative mobile platforms that address the requirements of the rapidly evolving mobile device market. We are pleased to work closely with TI to combine the finest of each company's core wireless know-how - EMP's access technology and platform size leadership with TI's innovative OMAP application processors in order to provide the most capable Open OS platforms on the market today."

Handsets based on these solutions are expected to be available on the market in the second half of 2008.