Ericsson is able to offer a higher degree of made-to-order equipment because the electronics of a base station are much more manageable compared to only a few years ago. This has enabled Ericsson to streamline and sharpen its R&D facilities and, broadly speaking, to reverse the order of events. "Today, we begin by looking at possible business cases for new services, then we develop features to deliver the solution that enables it," Ewaldsson says. "Lead times in product development have been cut so much that we are now able to take in customer input at a much earlier stage in the process."
As a sign of market approval, he cites that a large American operator recently chose Ericsson as radio equipment supplier for its next-generation high-speed voice and data network precisely because of its ability to deliver tailor-made base stations.
"And in Germany, another customer had certain requirements for a BSC, which we were able to meet through a customized solution. As a result, they swapped to an all-Ericsson radio network," Ewaldsson adds.
In January it was announced that T-Mobile Germany – the mobile branch of Deutsche Telekom and one of the largest leading mobile operators in the world – had selected Ericsson as the supplier and integrator for the replacement of 10,000 of T-Mobile's existing GSM radio base stations.
Ewaldsson sums up Ericsson's intentions: "To work much closer to our customers, listen to what they need and then develop customized solutions to match those needs. And we're able to do that at the same cost as comparable standard solutions because of the economies of scale that stem from being the single, largest supplier."
Another major GSM deal was announced in February, when Ericsson was awarded a USD 805 million contract by Guangdong Mobile to expand its GSM network in Guangdong Province, China.
Read more at: http://www.ericsson.com/technology/tech_articles/GSM.shtml
