Ericsson CEO outlines the potential within the telecom industry

Ericsson demonstrated how operators can create new revenue streams and efficient operations through the latest broadband technologies and multimedia services. As the single most profitable corporation in the business, holding the largest customer base of the industry, Ericsson is uniquely positioned to tap the potential of the main trends in telecommunications. Ericsson's CEO highlighted that 3G and its evolution, HSPA, is commercially available, offering speeds of up to 14 Mbps, and enabling mobile broadband applications such as mobile TV, video streaming and internet access. Ericsson's HSPA technology is now powering about 30 different networks, such as Cingular in the US, Swisscom in Switzerland, Mobilkom in Austria and 3 in Italy. Today, Ericsson announced the most recent HSDPA contract, with the operator 3 Scandinavia. Svanberg also referred to the recent acquisition of Marconi, stating that combining Ericsson and Marconi's long-standing expertise and product ranges in broadband access and transport networks results in a powerful portfolio for next-generation converged networks. This gives Ericsson the conditions to significantly increase its market share on the wireline broadband market. Another important trend in the industry is telecommunications services, with hosting and managed services showing the fastest growth in the field. During 2005, the managed services business grew by 29 percent and became the main component in the contracts with 3 in the Great Britain and Italy; the biggest Ericsson has signed so far. Svanberg underlined the social and economic impact of mobile telephony. There will be 3 billion mobile subscribers before 2010. Just last year, 800 million mobile phones were sold, making the mobile the most sold consumer product in the world.