Ericsson and Telecom Personal sign agreement for GSM/GPRS network in Argentina

Ericsson and Telecom Personal sign agreement for GSM/GPRS network in Argentina Wireless migration to 3G: Telecom Personal SA to expand its network with GPRS/GSM technology from Ericsson for higher speed mobile Internet services in Argentina. Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide GPRS/GSM core and radio access infrastructure equipment, enabling advanced mobile Internet services to be in commercial operation by the second half of 2001. "This agreement further strengthens our longstanding relationship with Telecom Personal and confirms the companies' parallel strategies - to be leaders in delivering the mobile Internet to consumers as quickly as possible,"said Daniel Caruso, Executive Vice President of Ericsson in Argentina. "This first GPRS/GSM agreement in Argentina is an important milestone in the continuing spread of GPRS/GSM coverage in the global arena. It also demonstrates Ericsson's strengths in GPRS/GSM on a global basis as well as its commitment and capabilities in these technologies in Latin America." "Ericsson has been a key supplier to Telecom Personal since we rolled out our first analog cellular networks in 1996 and throughout our 2G deployments," said Marcelo De Carli, General Director of Telecom Personal. "We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Ericsson as we migrate to 3G technology focused on putting advanced wireless Internet applications into our customers' hands, while we continue the deployment and evolution of our existing networks and the successful services they support." 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 At Ericsson: James Borup, Press Relations, Division Mobile Systems Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 699 9412; E-mail: james.borup@lme.ericsson.se Laura Alvarez, Corporate Communications, Ericsson Argentina Phone: +54 11 431 95 521; E-mail: laura.alvarez@cea.ericsson.se Silse Bloise, Corporate Communications Manager (Latin America) Phone: +55 11 6224 8062; +55 11 9233 9938 E-mail: silse.bloise@edb.ericsson.se At Telecom Personal SA: Santiago Lacase, Manager, External Communications Phone: +54 11 4310 9021; +54 11 4420 3977 About Telecom Personal SA Telecom Personal is the largest mobile phone company in Argentina, with nation wide coverage. Telecom Personal offers the most advanced cellular and PCS services and has the largest mobile phone client base in the country, with more than 2 million subscribers. Telecom Personal is one of the companies in the Telecom Group, which is owned by Telecom Argentina (Telecom Italia - France Telecom) to 99.9% and 0.01% owned by Publicom S.A. The company has 2,300 employees and has invested approximately USD 1,000 million for the installation of its digital cellular and PCS networks in the country. 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% 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.