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Overview
Top stories
Ericsson reported net sales of SEK49.6 billion for the first quarter of 2009, up 5 percent on the same quarter last year (for comparable units in constant currencies). Sales of network infrastructure are stable and demand for professional services is growing (Press release).
ST-Ericsson reports on first two months of operation
ST-Ericsson, the 50/50 joint venture between Ericsson and STMicroelectronics, reported financial results for its first two months of operation from 2 February 2009. Net sales for the period were USD391 million, resulting in an operating loss of USD98 million. The company expects to make USD230 million of annualized savings from a new program of resources and operations realignment (Press release).
Sony Ericsson reports first quarter results
Sony Ericsson reported sales of EUR1,736 million for the first quarter of 2009, 36 percent lower than for the same quarter of 2008. Sales decreased primarily as a result of continued weak consumer confidence and de-stocking in the retail and distribution channels (Press release).
Viewpoint – Full Service Broadband: Fast, high-quality IP to the core
Melih Tufan, Head of Product Line Packet Core, Ericsson
Driven by the availability of reasonably-priced, convenient access and peoples’ desires to work and play online wherever they are, demand for mobile broadband services is skyrocketing. The experience of Australian mobile operator Telstra, which has recently seen mobile broadband data grow at an annual rate of between 500 and 600 percent, is not unusual.
Mobile operators are responding to, and feeding, this demand with rapid rollouts of mobile broadband access technology, while the introduction of mobile broadband-capable devices seems to be a daily occurrence. The GSM mobile Suppliers’ Association (GSA) reports that, by April 2009, there were 259 commercial High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) networks in operation in 110 countries, with more than 1,400 different HSPA-enabled devices already available.
The once-distinct lines between fixed and mobile broadband performance are blurring. Today, HSPA offers commercially-proven downlink rates of up to 21Mbps. This will rise to 42Mbps during 2009 and to more than 84Mbps in 2010. What is more, 3GPP mobile access technologies will continue to evolve, with a clear roadmap for reaching 150Mbps or more with LTE, moving on to a target of 1Gbps. Ericsson itself has already demonstrated LTE at data rates of 160Mbps.
More to the point, LTE is no longer a ‘future’ technology: commercial roll-outs are scheduled to begin this year. According to the GSA, by the middle of April 2009 there were already 31 operators in Asia, Europe and North America committed to rolling out LTE.
At the same time, the performance of fixed broadband continues to improve: VDSL2 technology will offer up to 100Mbps over copper connections, while GPON and PTP optical technologies will deliver up to 2.5Gbps to homes and offices.
Evolution a core issue
This growth in both the popularity and capabilities of broadband is great news for consumers and for the range of multimedia services that operators will be able to offer. Ensuring these services continue to meet consumers’ expectations for speed and quality, however, requires not just more capable radio access, but also higher-performance core networks than we have today.
Tomorrow’s core networks must be able to deliver greater capacity, higher speeds and enhanced quality assurance. Furthermore, to maintain profitability these capabilities need to be delivered at a lower cost per megabyte, especially as flat-rate pricing becomes the norm for bundled broadband offerings.
This provides established operators with something of a dilemma. They have a huge installed base of infrastructure that has evolved to serve the needs of voice and, increasingly, high-speed data subscribers very well. New high-capacity IP infrastructure equipment is available but – as efficient and powerful as it is – operators cannot switch to a high-capacity, all-IP core network overnight.
This is why Ericsson has adopted a ‘twin-track’ strategy for its Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution to support operators’ LTE network rollouts efficiently.
Supporting mobile operators by evolving existing packet core systems via software upgrades is a cornerstone of Ericsson’s new EPC product portfolio, which was announced at Mobile World Congress in February 2009. The goal is to minimize operators’ capital expenditures and ensure a smooth transition to the new technology.
EPC delivers a simplified common core network architecture that enables operators to meet the needs of a range of fixed and mobile access networks – both 3GPP and 3GPP2 mobile networks – very efficiently. The simplified and collapsed structure, known as service architecture evolution (SAE), contains only a handful of network elements. Ultimately, GSM/WCDMA operators will be able to do away with the range of network controllers, the switching centers and the variety of gateways in today’s networks.
EPC/SAE essentially contains two main network elements. The Mobility Management Entity (MME) is a control node for authenticating and tracking subscribers through the network. The packet gateway, which contains both the packet data network and serving gateway functions, may be configured to serve in either or both of these roles for all access technologies.
End-to-end portfolio
Ericsson’s EPC portfolio allows operators to evolve and converge their core networks at their own pace. It contains two basic types of core network nodes, servers and gateways, in line with the standardized IP-based EPC network architecture.
Servers include the Serving GPRS Support Node/Mobility Management Entity (SGSN/MME), Service-Aware Policy Controller and Home Subscriber Server.
Gateways include the Mobile Packet Gateway, an evolution of the Ericsson Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and the Converged Packet Gateway, a new node for high-capacity, high-quality core networks serving both fixed and mobile access and based on the SmartEdge platform. With these two gateway solutions, operators are able to roll out wide-area LTE coverage cost-effectively, as well as deliver very high-capacity converged broadband coverage wherever demand dictates.
The addition of these products means Ericsson has a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio for IP-based Full Service Broadband, which also includes high-capacity radio access (multi-access LTE radio base stations), IP/Ethernet-based mobile backhaul, IMS multimedia communication solutions and mobile broadband-enabled device IP.
The benefit to operators is a secure investment in next-generation broadband, thanks to the ability to scale, evolve and migrate in a smooth, planned way. Scalability ensures that operators can deliver increased capacity efficiently for voice and data, while smooth migration to efficient, high-capacity IP networks creates an environment for new service offerings over the longer term.
If you would like to discuss this issue in more detail, please contact: industry.analysts@ericsson.com.
Mobile networks
MobiCom launches mobile broadband in Mongolia
Mongolian operator MobiCom has launched the first high-speed mobile broadband network in the country, powered by HSPA technology from Ericsson (Press release).
Avea introduces mobile broadband in Turkey
Turkish operator Avea will introduce high-speed mobile broadband services to more than 12 million subscribers with the help of WCDMA/HSPA and mobile backhaul technology from Ericsson, under the terms of a new four-year contract (Press release).
Ericsson sets new HSPA speed record
Ericsson broke its own HSPA world record with the world's first demonstration of HSPA multi-carrier, multiple-input-multiple-output technology, providing peak downlink data rates of 56Mbps, at the CTIA Wireless exhibition April 1–3 (Press release).
Commercial launch for mobilkom austria 21Mbps HSPA Evolution services
Austrian operator mobilkom austria has commercially activated enhanced mobile broadband services powered by HSPA Evolution, Ericsson's latest high-speed broadband access technology that enables peak data rates of up to 21Mbps (Press release).
China Unicom to build WCDMA network across 15 provinces
China Unicomchose Ericsson to supply WCDMAnetworks and services for 15 Chinese provinces (Press release).
Turkcell to roll out nationwide WCDMA/HSPA network
Turkcell, Turkey's leading mobile network operator, selected Ericsson as the main supplier for a nationwide WCDMA/HSPA network (Press release).
Telkomsel signs three-year 2G/3G network deal in Indonesia
Indonesia's leading mobile operator Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia signed a three-year frame agreement with Ericsson to deploy and integrate GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA radio access networks (RAN) in Indonesia (Press release).
BSNL chooses Ericsson for India's biggest 3G launch
BSNL, India's second-largest telecom operator, selected Ericsson to provide WCDMA/HSPA technology across 11 leading cities (Press release).
Verizon to build USA's first LTE network
Verizon Wireless selected Ericsson as a primary network vendor for its groundbreaking LTE network deployments in the United States (Verizon press release).
Orange and Ericsson deliver sustainable connectivity in rural Africa
Orange Guinea Conakry and Ericsson are deploying more than 100 base stations fully powered by solar energy in remote parts of rural Africa. Using Ericsson's energy-efficient base stations, a hybrid diesel-battery solution and solar panels, Orange is increasing mobile coverage in rural and urban areas, while advancing towards its target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2020 (Press release).
Telecom Italia deploys 28Mbps HSPA
Telecom Italia is deploying Ericsson HSPA with multi-carrier multiple-input-multiple-output technology, which offers download speeds up to 28Mbps andupload speeds up to 5.8Mbps (Press release).
New AMR Wideband enhances voice quality
The latest mobile network quality enhancement technology introduced by Ericsson, adaptive multi-rate wideband, provides hi-fi quality, crystal-clear sound on handsets that support the feature in both GSM and WCDMA/HSPA networks (Press release).
Ericsson introduces advanced Evolved Packet Core for LTE
Ericsson introduced Evo RAN, a radio access network solution that enables operators to run GSM, WCDMA and LTE as a single network, and includes a new common network controller, the Evo Controller 8000 (Press release).
Zain and Ericsson power mobile site from wind and sun
As part of the Millennium Villages project, pan-African operator Zain and Ericsson have built a wind- and solar-powered site in a remote village in north-eastern Kenya. (Press release).
Ericsson introduces advanced Evolved Packet Core for LTE
Ericsson introduced the industry's most advanced Evolved Packet Core (SAE/EPC) portfolio for supporting operators as they introduce LTE into their networks (Press release). (Also, see Viewpoint story above.)
Ericsson first to demonstrate HSPA at 42Mbps
Ericsson performed the first-ever demonstration of the new HSPA multi-carrier technology for peak downlink data rates of 42Mbps at the Mobile World Congress in February (Press release).
Multimedia services
North State Communications, the North Carolina, USA-based integrated communications provider, selected the TANDBERG Television iPlex IPTV video processing platform from Ericsson for its new IPTV headend (Press release).
REACH extends HD satellite capabilities
REACH, the Hong Kong-based provider of international voice and satellite services, is extending its HD satellite capabilities with a comprehensive Contribution & Distribution solution from Ericsson group company TANDBERG Television that includes encoding, multiplexing, modulation and professional receivers (Press release).
Egyptian national broadcaster expands SDH microwave network
Egyptian Radio & Television Union (ERTU), the Middle East's largest TV and radio producer and broadcaster, has selected the latest TANDBERG Television MPEG-2 4:2:2 SD encoding solutions from Ericsson for the expansion of its SDH microwave network covering the Red Sea and North Coast Sinai (Press release).
Telenor Sweden to roll out IMS-based enterprise services
Telenor Sweden has signed the first ever contract for Ericsson's IMS-based Business Communication Suite (BCS), which will offer a range of multimedia communications and collaboration services to Telenor's enterprise customers in Sweden (Press release).
Tianjin Broadcast & TV deploys TANDBERG cable headend
Tianjin Broadcast & TV Network, one of China's largest cable TV operators, has deployed a fully redundant cable headend built on the TANDBERG iSIS 8000® solution from Ericsson, including encoders, multiplexers, and QAM modulators (Press release).
Business leaders demand video on the move
A consumer behavior study by Ericsson and CNN has revealed that the international business elite are increasingly accessing the Internet while on the move, and that 73 percent of CNN's online audience share user-generated video content (Press release).
New social networking portfolio from Ericsson
Ericsson introduced an innovative social networking portfolio for mobile network operators – including the Pixl8r initiative and the Social Media Portal – that is designed to simplify the sharing of user-generated content across diverse networks (Press release).
Ericsson launches Connected Home Gateway
Ericsson has launched its Connected Home Gateway, which lets people have access to and interact with their home multimedia devices, services and media, wherever they are (Press release).
Telefónica first to trial interoperable rich communications services
Telefónica and Ericsson will conduct the world's first live demonstration of interoperable multimedia services, based on the Rich Communication Suite standard, in Spain (Press release).
New mobile broadband module enhances user convenience and functionality
Ericsson’s new F3607gw mobile broadband module for HSPA/GPRS/EDGE networks will deliver enhanced functionality and convenience through its innovative features, reduced power consumption, prolonged battery life and an increased level of integration that reduces component count and cost (Press release).
World first demonstration of 500Mbps DSL technology
Ericsson has performed the world’s first live demonstration of a VDSL2-based technology achieving data transfer rates of more than 500Mbps, which will allow operators to offer low-cost, high-performance connectivity to a wider range of mobile backhaul customers, enterprise users and residential customers (Press release).
Deutsche Telekom trials 100G optical transmission
German telecom operator Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson conducted a successful field trial of higher-bandwidth optical transmission as part of the 100GET publicly funded R&D project (Press release).
Chunghwa rolls out next-generation optical network in Taiwan
Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest telecom operator, will deploy a metro aggregation network from Ericsson to ensure high-quality, high-capacity broadband services, such as IPTV and e-health, for both fixed and mobile access (Press release).
Ericsson to maintain and operate Vodafone UK network
Vodafone UK signed a seven-year agreement with Ericsson to provide maintenance and operations for its 2G and 3G radio access networks (Press release).
Ericsson to manage 3 UK and T-Mobile 3G network consolidation
Mobile Broadband Network Limited, the 50/50 joint venture formed by 3 UK and T-Mobile UK to integrate and manage their 3G radio access networks, selected Ericsson to provide managed services to complete the consolidation of the operators’ 3G infrastructure (Press release).
Unitel Angola signs up Ericsson for network consulting and expansion
Unitel, the largest mobile operator in Angola, has signed a contract with Ericsson for network performance consulting and continued expansion of its GSM/WCDMA network over the next three years (Press release).
Corporate news
Ascom to buy Ericsson TEMS business
Ericsson will divest its TEMS-branded products business, consisting of tools for air interface monitoring and radio network planning, to Ascom. The agreement, expected to close in June 2009, involves the transfer of about 300 employees (Press release).
Carl-Henric Svanberg named advisor to Earth Institute
Ericsson President and Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric Svanberg has been appointed to the external advisory board of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, highlighting the importance of telecommunications in achieving sustainable development and closing the gap between developing and developed countries (Press release).
STMicroelectronics and Ericsson complete mobile platforms merger
STMicroelectronics and Ericsson closed their agreement to merge Ericsson Mobile Platforms and ST-NXP Wireless into a 50/50 joint venture. The new company, known as ST-Ericsson, will be a leader in the wireless semiconductor industry, with supply contracts with four of the top five handset manufacturers and combined pro-forma revenues of USD3.6 billion in 2008 (Press release).
Latest white papers
Accelerating global development with mobile broadband
In emerging markets, mobile technologies offer the best hope for providing broadband in a cost-effective and extensive manner – and for reducing the digital divide between those with easy access to information and services and those without (White paper).
HSPA – the undisputed choice for mobile broadband
Low-cost embedded HSPA modules are already available and, with more than 100 commercial networks in operation, HSPA is the clear and undisputed choice for mobile broadband services. This paper aims to cut through the confusion and hype surrounding the relative merits of various wireless broadband technologies and address the real issues that will influence the mass-market success of mobile broadband – and its ability to deliver broadband for everyone, everywhere (White paper).
How efficient mobile backhaul and packet-switched GSM will help win the final coverage race
Modern GSM transmission and transport networks enable the cost-effective expansion of mobile voice and data services, and provide a natural stepping stone for extending the reach of mobile broadband (White paper).
Optimizing global mobility through seamless coexistence and evolution of GSM, WCDMA and LTE
The impressive uptake of mobile broadband services based on HSPA is based on excellent performance, low cost and seamless fall-back to GPRS/EDGE, which results in great coverage from day one. New technologies are being developed to further improve the coexistence of GSM and WCDMA and pave the way for LTE (White paper).
Power supplies go digital
Digital power techniques have been proposed for some time, but have not been able to compete successfully with analog solutions. Thanks to increasing integrated
-circuit density, hard work on the part of semiconductor suppliers, and a mature and reliable, complementary, metal-oxide semiconductor technology, digital processing for power-conversion applications now is very attractive (White paper).
For the latest Ericsson white papers, please click here.
Latest publications
Ericsson Review 01/2009
The latest issue of Ericsson Review – which covers the latest Ericsson technology research, development and production achievements – takes an in-depth look at convergent charging and billing, continued HSPA evolution, push delivery with MBMS, open platforms for multimedia services, digital video compression, and a decade of Ericsson Research (Ericsson Review).
Ericsson Business Review 01/2009 focuses on sustainability
The latest issue of Ericsson Business Review, Ericsson’s thought-leading magazine on business strategies in telecoms, examines how good business equates to sustainable business. To view the latest issue and to subscribe, please click here.
New microsite focuses on transmission efficiency
New rollouts and the evolution of existing networks require a sharp focus on transmission costs, and moving to all-IP transmission is the long-term solution. Ericsson has published a new microsite that provides information – including video case studies and white papers – on how operators can evolve or roll out transmission resources that support their business in the most cost-effective way.
New case study on energy-efficiency microsite
The latest video case study to be published on Ericsson’s energy-efficiency microsite looks at how Australian operator Telstra has deployed a highly efficient core network. In addition to video case studies, the site offers white papers, solution overviews, facts and figures and questions and answers.
Events
May 18–20
LTE World Summit
Hotel Palace Berlin, Germany
May 18
Keynote: Commercial Rollout of LTE
Speaker: Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio
Break-out session: Deploying Core Networks for LTE
Speaker: Lars Frid, Director Evolved Packet Core
May 18–20
ISSST – International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology
Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
May 19
Lead-free Soldering of Telecom Network Infrastructure Products
Speaker: Richard Trankell, Environmental Product Manager
September 7–9
Broadband World Forum Europe
CNIT La Défense, Paris, France
September 7
Break-out session: Leveraging broadband to create a more sustainable planet
Chair: Elaine Weidman, Vice President Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility
Contacts and further information
If you would like further information about any stories in this newsletter, or to arrange a briefing, please send an e-mail to industry.analysts@ericsson.com.
Ericsson’s global industry analyst relations team is: Peter Olofsson (Global, Head of Industry Analyst Relations), Kathy Egan (North America), Colleen Rosander (North America), Rob Elston (Europe/Middle East/Africa) and Eva E Andersson (Asia Pacific). Please contact the person responsible for activities in the region in which you are based.
The next newsletter will be issued following the quarterly report 24 July, 2009. For further details regarding the quarterly reports, please check here.
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