Ericsson and Jiangsu Mobile sign agreement for GSM expansion in China
Ericsson and Jiangsu Mobile sign agreement for GSM expansion in China Ericsson and Jiangsu Mobile Communications Corporation (JMCC) have announced an agreement for the expansion and enhancement of the GSM network in the province. This is the fifth expansion contract Ericsson has won in this eastern province of China. The contract is valued at more than USD 110 million. Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide Jiangsu Mobile with advanced infrastructure, software and system services through Nanjing Ericsson Panda Communications, Ltd. Nanjing Ericsson Panda is one of Ericsson's largest joint ventures in China. The expansion contract will also include the commercial launch of GSM 1800, enhancing the network to dual band capability (GSM 900/1800). Capacity enhancement will cover all services currently in operation and will be carried out over a period of one year. When completed, JMCC's GSM network will reach more than four and a half million consumers. The project will include the deployment of Ericsson's Release 8 of the GSM system. Release 8 is designed as a platform to support the introduction of higher speed datacom services, starting with GPRS and going on to EDGE and WCDMA. "We are very pleased to be an active part of the growth of this exciting industry in Jiangsu," said Jan Malm, President of Ericsson China. "With Ericsson's advanced technology and expertise, we are well positioned to support Jiangsu Mobile in their ambitious plan to provide their end user customers with quality services that will meet their diversified and personal needs in the emerging mobile Internet era." Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT James Borup, Press Relations, Division Mobile Services Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 699 9412; E-mail: james.borup@lme.ericsson.se Tu Min, Deputy Corporate Communications Manager, Ericsson (China) Phone: +86 10 6561 9988; E-mail: min.tu@etc.ericsson.se About GSM/GPRS from Ericsson GSM is the world's most widely deployed wireless communications standard. Ericsson is the global market leader in GSM, with 40 percent of the world's more than 400 million GSM subscribers connected by Ericsson systems. More than 146 operators in some 80 countries around the world rely on GSM systems from Ericsson. Ericsson is the world leader in GPRS, with more commercial agreements than any other supplier. It supports operators around the world with infrastructure, GPRS phones with Bluetooth , and ready-to-go mobile Internet applications, enabling early commercial launch of GPRS systems. Customers that have launched live GPRS systems so far include Vodafone in the UK, Telstra in Australia, SmarTone in Hong Kong and GMCC in China. The Ericsson GPRS solution is future-proofed for third generation (3G) systems and is fully compatible with the GPRS specifications approved at SMG 31(Special Mobile Group within ETSI standardization organization). To support the early introduction of commercial GPRS services, Ericsson is ramping up the shipment of the first GPRS phone, the R520, to larger volumes supporting operators who already have implemented Ericsson's GPRS solutions. The R520 phone supports GSM 900/1800/1900 frequencies, allowing communication on one phone throughout 120 countries on five continents. The R520 is the first GPRS phone with Bluetooth and the first phone in the world supporting WAP 1.2.1. It also supports Chinese characters. You can find reference material at: http://www.ericsson.net/press/gprs_referencelist.shtml ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/08/20001208BIT00400/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/08/20001208BIT00400/bit0002.pdf