Ericsson awarded GPRS network by Telstra

Ericsson awarded GPRS network by Telstra Ericsson has been awarded a significant contract from Telstra to design, supply and commission a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network for Greater Sydney. The introduction of GPRS will bring high-speed data services and advanced Internet applications over the existing digital GSM mobile network to Telstra's customers. Telstra has also selected Ericsson to upgrade its existing GSM digital mobile network to support GPRS later this year, confirming Ericsson as the major GSM mobile vendor to Telstra. Commenting on the granting of the contract to Ericsson, Group Managing Director, Telstra On Air, Dick Simpson, said GPRS will offer customers a substantially faster and far more cost-efficient service with access to interactive information services such as telstra.com. "Telstra's GPRS service provision is a significant investment by the corporation to ensure Australia's mobile phone customers can take full advantage of the data-rich world of the future", he said. John Young, Director of Ericsson's Telstra Customer Unit, said his company was delighted to fill such a contract which would ensure that Telstra maintains its leadership in the mobile market through innovation and network capability. "This latest Telstra decision is an important milestone in the long- standing business relationship between the two organizations. Over the years, Ericsson, with Telstra, has worked to deliver high quality, high performance products through the introduction of GSM digital technology and previous to that, analogue mobile technology (AMPS)." GPRS introduces packet switching and the Internet Protocol to mobile networks, enabling the mobile Internet and infinite applications. Ericsson's GPRS system will enable operators to offer mobile Internet and other IP-based applications at speeds up to more than ten times as fast as current mobile networks that are optimized for voice applications. GPRS standards enable data rates up to 115kbps, compared with the current GSM speed of 9.6kbps, and is suitable for all types of transmission, especially bursts of data traffic. GPRS is also ideal for carrying Internet data - for instance email, news items, information and entertainment services designed for WAP/GPRS- enabled mobile handsets. This win further cements Ericsson's leadership in high speed mobile networks. "Ericsson has recently secured the first four agreements worldwide for the provision of 3G mobile networks", continued Mr Young. Ericsson has the world leading position in GPRS with more than 50 percent of global contracts, as measured by operators' subscriber base as well as number of contracts. Ericsson has taken a leadership role with its open GPRS systems and is already today conducting well over 45 GPRS customer trials with leading operators in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. The GPRS customer trials permit operators to do extensive evaluations to prepare for their commercial launch of mobile Internet applications. Earlier in the year, Telstra successfully made Australia's first live to air Digital GSM GPRS data call in Australia, using a trial system supplied by Ericsson. GPRS applications were successfully tested in February 2000, when Telstra demonstrated telstra.com email and WAP services over GPRS. Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom ABOUT TELSTRA Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company. Telstra is one of Australia's largest corporations and has one of the best-known brands in the country. The company offers a full range of service sand competes in all telecommunications markets throughout Australia. Its main activities are to provide: Telephone lines to homes and businesses; Local and long-distance telephone calls in Australia and international calls to and from Australia; Mobile telecommunication services; A comprehensive range of data, Internet and on-line services; Wholesale services to other carriers and carriage service providers; Telephone directories (White Pages and Yellow Pages®) and Pay television services through an affiliate. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: James Borup, Press Officer, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 8 757 5612; Email: james.borup@lme.ericsson.se Clare MacDonald, Ericsson Australia Phone: +61 3 93011762, +61 414 580 025 Email: clare.macdonald@ericsson.com.au Virginia Murphy, Telstra OnAir Phone: +61 3 9252 1336, +61 417 301 700 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/02/20000502BIT00460/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/02/20000502BIT00460/bit0002.pdf