MEDIA RELEASE
15 November 2006
Ericsson CEO: HSPA operators will benefit most from mobile broadband mass market
Operators who deploy High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology have several advantages over those who choose different
paths to delivering advanced services, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERICY) President and Chief Executive Officer Carl-Henric
Svanberg said at the company’s Strategy & Technology Summit in Tokyo.
Today 130 operators in 60 countries have already been committed to the technology, proving HSPA is the obvious and
quickest route bringing mobile broadband to the mass market. By a software upgrade a WCDMA network can be enhanced with
HSPA. With 85 million people around the world already subscribing to WCDMA services, no other high-speed radio access
technology has a comparable installed base.
“The same advantages that made GSM the catalyst for mobile telephony achieving mass-market also apply to HSPA,” Svanberg
said.
“The combination of legacy GSM networks, economies of scale and a vast selection of consumer devices ensure that people
will have access to multimedia services, the internet, TV and games on any screen and device of their choice.”
To date, the amazing growth of mobile communications has come primarily through voice traffic. As the barriers to mobile
data usage such as cost, speed and quality of content are eliminated, operators will need to react to more demanding,
dynamic users and their demands.
“Operators must take a holistic approach so they can provide any broadband service to any device a subscriber wants no
matter where the user may be,” Svanberg said. “Users have become accustomed to dependable, easy-to-use services on the
internet, and mobile operators must work to ensure the same quality in a mobile environment.”
“This creates, in effect, a new channel for distributing content. Mobile TV is already available on networks around the
globe, and music, gaming and online communities that are successful over the internet are likely to follow. As the
number of mobile subscribers in the world is approaching 3 billion, we can see the mobile content phenomenon is still at
a very early stage.
Equally important as the high data speeds possible with HSPA networks is the service integrity provided by IMS.
Together, these new technologies will guarantee the quality of service (QoS) users expect, allowing broadband services
to be available anywhere on any device in a quick, cost-effective fashion with minimal risk. This ensures the integrity
of multimedia services across all access methods.
Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology
leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful
communication companies in the world.
Read more at http://www.ericsson.com
ENDS