Enables new services for 5 million viewers

Provides Tata Sky customers with highest picture and sound quality

Dramatic bandwidth savings for launch of new services using the latest generation MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC encoders

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has equipped Tata Sky, the Indian leading direct-to-home (DTH) operator, with a head-end upgrade that enables it to launch high definition (HD) channels and also increase its standard definition (SD) channel offering. The Ericsson solution achieves dramatic bandwidth savings that allow the launch of multiple new services for 5 million Tata Sky connections.

With bandwidth being such a vital commodity when launching HD services, the savings that are achieved through Ericsson's EN8190 MPEG-4 AVC HD encoder are extremely valuable to operators. The deployment of Ericsson's solution at Tata Sky has enabled it to offer its subscribers many HD channels with the highest picture and sound quality, further enhancing the user experience. Tata Sky has also deployed Ericsson's EN8100 MPEG-2 SD encoder, which has enabled it to increase its SD channel capacity without the need for swap-out of legacy MPEG-2 consumer set-top boxes (STBs); this has been achieved by a combination of encoding improvements and other system wide optimizations.

"With Ericsson's head-end, we have an advanced solution that dramatically increases the number of channels our subscribers can receive, as well as enabling us to now offer high definition programming to enhance the viewing experience," said Yigs Riza, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Sky. "The bandwidth savings that we achieved through the EN8100 were essential in being able to deploy these services. We were delighted to benefit from Ericsson's expertise and experience in delivering high performance television solutions."

"This deployment marks an exciting development for Tata Sky and for the Indian television market," said Eric Baron, Head of EMEIA Region, Solution Area TV, Ericsson. "Viewers now have access to a top range of programming in high definition, as well as an even greater variety of SD channels. The EN8100 enables all this to be achieved in the same number of encoders, maximizing the efficiency of both Capex and Opex."

Ericsson will demonstrate a range of complete solutions for advanced television platforms at NAB 2010 (booth #SU3308).

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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 1 billion subscribers and has a leading position in managed services. The company’s portfolio comprises of 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 "to be the prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 75,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 209 billion (USD 32.2 billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.