The number of mobile users in the world is predicted to grow to 2 billion before the end of this year and close to 3 billion by 2009. Eighty percent of the new subscribers will be found in developing countries and other high-growth markets in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Russia and Africa. Most new users also belong to low-spending segments and/or live in remote rural areas; this places entirely new demands on mobile coverage and capacity, and highlights the importance of network solutions that drive down operators’ cost of ownership.

Ericsson believes in an all-communicating world where telecommunications are affordable for everyone. At a recent World Bank conference, Ericsson's Bodil Josefsson presented network solutions for greatly varied market situations: "Our focus on low total cost of ownership for operators makes affordable communication to anybody a real possibility."

For example, Ericsson has developed network solutions that allow operators to profitably serve users who spend below USD 5 per month. Josefsson says: "Low revenue is not the same as low margins. Low tariffs don't have to hurt profitability and pre-paid can still mean healthy profitability – what matters is how well the business is managed."

Even if tomorrow's new users may share certain characteristics, such as low spending power and a lack of fixed networks, they are found in widely different geographical circumstances – from densely populated, poorer districts of Asian mega-cities to vast rural expanses in Latin America or Russia, or remote Saharan-fringe villages in Africa.

Josefsson is program manager for Ericsson's Communication for All initiative, which is supported by three offerings: Expander, aimed at cost-efficient coverage into new geographical areas; Capacity Growth, aimed at cost-efficient capacity expansion by utilizing sites more efficiently; and Managed Capacity, in which an operator buys capacity from Ericsson to save on capital expenditure and get professional help to trim operational costs.

She says: "Our Expander and Capacity Growth platforms support a logical operator strategy – build for coverage and plan for capacity. Our concept of Managed Capacity, in combination with infrastructure solutions and sharing of networks, is a solution for operators who are addressing new low-spending users, where business models used in the developed world may not be applicable."

Africa has been the fastest-growing mobile market in the world for the past five years, and Ericsson chose April's GSM West Africa summit in Senegal to launch Communication for All. Josefsson, who was there, reports keen interest from many of the region's operators. "To many people here, the mobile phone is not one of many communication options – it's the only alternative," she says. She explains that mobile phones often serve as the village public payphone, with local entrepreneurs selling portions of time.

Ericsson Expander makes it possible to reduce the number of sites by up to 40 percent, and minimizing the number of sites is crucial in reducing total cost of network ownership. Ericsson Capacity Growth, on the other hand, is primarily targeted at traffic-dense urban areas where operators often have to pack more traffic into an already existing network. The solution lowers the production cost per voice minute and drastically improves operator margins by releasing cost-efficient new capacity with maintained speech quality.

Communication for All is, in other words, a winning proposition for everyone involved – from new subscribers who can afford to go mobile and get new opportunities in life, to network operators who can profitably chase another billion users.

Read more about Ericsson Expander and Capacity Growth at: http://www.ericsson.com/network_operators/business_growth/expander/index.shtml
and
http://www.ericsson.com/products/hp/Capacity_Growth_pa.shtml