BWI: Ericsson named 3G Supplier for Vodafone in India

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 03:39 PM IST (10:09 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology, Retailers, Telecommunications; Technology
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Ericsson named 3G Supplier for Vodafone in India


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- . A two year 3G contract for most populated cities in India
. Enables millions of subscribers to enjoy rich, high-speed mobile communications
. Solution includes related services and flexible multi-standard RBS 6000 base stations

Vodafone Essar one of India's leading cellular service providers has selected Ericsson as exclusive 3G HSPA hardware, software and related service vendor to equip India's largest metropolitan cities; Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata with latest HSPA mobile broadband network.

With strong subscriber growth and recent technology development, India's information network is transforming itself rapidly. Vodafone Essar will deploy latest HSPA technology to deliver new type of services like video telephony, mobile broadband, mobile TV, video on demand and others such as music downloads, video tones, instant messaging, on line gaming.

Ericsson foresees three billion new mobile broadband subscriptions by 2015, a ten-fold increase over five years, and envisions 50 billion connected devices by 2020. Ericsson's findings show that data traffic grew 280% globally during each of the last two years, and is forecast to grow 90% annually over the next five years. (Source: Ericsson Consumer Lab Mobile Broadband Study 2010)

Marten Pieters, Managing Director, Vodafone Essar, said, "Globally, Vodafone provides enhanced 3G experiences to a large base of customers. India is now ready for 3G, and we are committed to offer similar high-quality 3G services to our Indian customers. Ericsson is one of the specialists in this area and we view this as a very strategic alliance, in order to deliver and maintain a high quality network which customers will expect from Vodafone."

Gowton Achaibar, Head of Region India, says: "We are extremely honoured to be chosen by Vodafone Essar for their 3G HSPA network deployment in India. The contract further strengthens Ericsson's position as the leading mobile communications supplier in the Indian market and demonstrates yet again our long-term strategic partnership with Vodafone Essar. We are confident that our undisputed technology leadership and global experience will contribute to the rapid expansion of India's mobile Broadband market."

Under the agreement with Vodafone, Ericsson will provide supply the RAN system, network rollout services, tuning, spare parts and training services, along with the 3G common core platform and transmission over the coming months. The radio access network will include the latest multi-standard radio base station RBS 6000 and mobile soft-switching technology, which will drastically boost the capacity of the network and evolve it into an IP network. With such solutions, Ericsson will also help Vodafone to achieve their energy saving goals. The framework contract will be implemented through 2010 to 2012. Deliveries and deployment will soon begin.

Notes to editors:

About Vodafone Essar Ltd

Vodafone Essar is the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone Group and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. The company now has operations across the country with over 113.77 million customers**.

Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group with approximately 347 million proportionate customers as on 30 June 2010. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents and around 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com

The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balanced portfolio of assets in the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports & Logistics, and Projects. Essar employs more than 50,000 people across offices in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

**Figures from Cellular Operators Association of India, 31st August 2010

Press backgrounder - HSPA and LTE
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/doc/hspa_lte.pdf

Ericsson's 3G reference list
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/3g_reference.shtml

About mobile broadband
www.ericsson.com/campaign/mobile_broadband/index.html

Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room

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 80,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 206.5 billion (USD 27.1 billion) in 2009. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

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CONTACT DETAILS
Rashmi Soni, Head - Internal Communications, Media & Analyst Relations, Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd, +91 8800490202, rashmi.soni@ericsson.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, RETAIL, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY

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