Of the estimated 5 billion people who will have mobile broadband by 2016, about 95% will be served by HSPA, CDMA and LTE networks
More than 50% of all Android and iOS smartphones are connected to the internet via Ericsson infrastructure
Ericsson has signed LTE contracts with six of seven of the top ranked operators by global revenue 2010.
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) highlighted the expected growth of commercial LTE networks globally and in the region, the company also demonstrated the benefits of its LTE portfolio as part of presentations at LTE MENA 2011 in Dubai.
In today's all communicating world broadband Internet is becoming an asset as vital to global development as steam, electricity or oil was for previous generations of technology, and access to internet 24/7 has become a necessity for life. Ericsson estimates that 50 percent of iOS and Android smartphones are connecting to the internet via Ericsson technology.
The explosive use of smartphones has emphasized the need for network technology to reduce latency and improve efficiencies. LTE,(Long Term Evolution), is the fourth generation of mobile network technology, which is set to revolutionize the use of mobile data services. The technology has been gaining support from mobile operators around the world in recent years and will be able to offer benefits from its global economy of scale, according to Ericsson.
Ulf Ewaldsson, Head of Radio Networks, Ericsson AB and Melih Tufan, Head of Product Line Packet Networks, Ericsson, both held presentations emphasizing the increasing support of LTE as operators recognize the benefits of migrating to the technology.
LTE is the fastest developing system in the history of mobile communication. 150 million people today have access to LTE networks, which is remarkable growth since its initial launch at the end of 2009. Ericsson has supplied the large majority of these commercial LTE networks and has signed contracts with six of seven of the top ranked operators by global revenue 2010.
"The introduction of LTE will be an evolutionary step, rather than revolutionary. We estimated 5 billion people who will have mobile broadband by 2016 and about 95% will be served by HSPA, CDMA and LTE networks. Also, large parts of existing infrastructure are re-used providing a future-proof technology path for flexible migration of services between 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies," said Ewaldsson. "Even though 3G will continue to do a perfectly good job in delivering broadband to billions of mobile users for many years to come, LTE will be essential to meet customer expectations and demand for speed and capacity enabling more applications such as interactive TV, mobile video blogging, advanced games and professional services"
There were more than ten commercial LTE deployments 2010 and at least 64 LTE networks are anticipated to be in commercial service by end 2012. In total, 128 operators have publicly committed to the technology across 52 different countries with a large number of LTE trials currently in operation.The report confirms 140 firm operator commitments to deploy commercial LTE systems in 56 countries. The number of committed operators is 118% higher than one year ago. A further 56 pre-commitment trials have been identified. Taken together, the report confirms 196 operators in 75 countries are currently investing in LTE. The report covers both LTE FDD and LTE TDD modes. www.gsacom.com
Tufan said: "LTE's primary objective is to enable operators to transport the increasing volume of mobile IP data traffic on their networks more efficiently and more cost effectively. Meanwhile, service revenues paid by end users are either flat or falling due to strong competition.
This disconnect between income and costs is threatening to weaken the positive revenue-generating potential of mobile data services for operators. That is why operators have recognized that LTE offers them a long-term path to financial security," concluded Tufan.
- Ends -Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room
Ericsson and LTE:
Ericsson has supplied the large majority of the commercial LTE networks currently covering 150 million people.
An important key to the quick deployment potential of commercial LTE networks is
Ericsson's Self Organizing Networks (SON) solution, offering customers standardized "plug and play" networks with a high degree of automation saving time and improving performance.
Ericsson has already signed LTE contracts with six of seven of the top ranked operators by global revenue 2010. A number of these contracts include radio access, evolved packet core and mobile backhaul.
Ericsson was placed as a leader in LTE Network Infrastructure in 2010 by Gartner,
Inc., the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. The leaders quadrant was presented in the Magic Quadrant report for LTE Network Infrastructure, May 2010.*
Ericsson is the undisputed leader in development and standardization of LTE and offers end-to-end networks with superior performance when it comes to stability, throughput, and latency - the most important key factors for end-users of LTE.
Ericsson has had the highest impact on the released LTE specification and expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents in LTE.
Ericsson is the global leader in telecom services and has won the world's first Managed Services deal for LTE.
Ericsson's core network solutions include industry-leading soft switches, IP infrastructure for edge and core routing (Ericsson's Smart Service Routers), IP-based Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and gateways. GSM and WCDMA/HSPA share a common core network. Therefore operators' previous investments are preserved as they migrate from voice-centric to multimedia networks. Ericsson's switching products have industry-leading scalability and capacity.
Ericsson's MINI-LINK microwave system is one of the world's most widely deployed mobile backhaul solutions. Transport networks (e.g. MINI-LINK, metro optical networks) are essential elements of our end-to-end solutions.
* The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.
Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.
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For more information, please contact:
Ericsson Region Middle East Public & Media Relations
Fida Kibbi, Head of Public and Media Relations
Phone: +97155600 1005
E-mail: rmedia.media@ericsson.com
© Press Release 2011
