Ericsson chosen as sole 3G supplier by Mobitel in Slovenia

Ericsson chosen as sole 3G supplier by Mobitel in Slovenia Ericsson has signed a Letter of Intent with Mobitel in Slovenia to become the sole supplier of a complete UMTS/WCDMA network to enable the operator to roll out 3G services. Ericsson has committed to delivering a pre-commercial UMTS system to Mobitel in the fourth quarter of 2001. This will be commercialized during the second quarter of 2002. The contract with Mobitel underlines Ericsson's position as the world's leading supplier of 3G mobile systems. The company has now been chosen as a vendor in 15 out of 20 3G agreements concluded to date. "Mobitel and Ericsson have a long and very close working relationship - our first NMT contract was signed in 1992," says Anton Majzelj, President of Mobitel. "We have appreciated Ericsson's high level of service and flexibility. Ericsson's clear migration path and solid product offering were key factors in our choice of the company to support our move to 3G." "This agreement with Mobitel is very important to Ericsson," says Lars- Olof Lindgren, Marketing and Sales Director for Direct Markets at Ericsson. "It marks the first 3G agreement in the Central and Eastern Europe region. Slovenia is an economic driving force in the region, and 52 per cent of Slovenians have mobile phones. Mobitel prides itself in addressing this market with excellent service offerings. We are delighted to be working with such a dynamic operator, in such a fast-moving market." A contract for UMTS national coverage will be signed shortly after Mobitel is awarded the license. The UMTS bidding process is expected to start at the end of this year, with licenses awarded in early 2001. 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 Press Office, Division Mobile Systems Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 699 9412; E-mail: press.mobilesystems@lme.ericsson.se Lars-Olof Lindgren, Marketing and Sales Director Direct Markets, Ericsson Phone: +46 8 7641344, E-mail: lars-olof.lindgren@era.ericsson.se Torbjörn Engström, President, Ericsson Slovenia Phone: +386 1 2363044, E-mail: torbjorn.engstrom@evn.ericsson.se Anton Majzelj, President, Mobitel Phone: +386 61 1722950, E-mail: anton.majzelj@mobitel.si About Mobitel Mobitel is owned 100 per cent by Telecom Slovenia. The operator started offering mobile telephony services over NMT in 1992, and continued with GSM in 1996. Today, it has around one million subscribers, and is Slovenia's leading mobile operator with a 95 per cent market share. About 3G from Ericsson Ericsson is an end-to-end solutions supplier, ideally positioned to support any operator, anywhere in migrating to 3G systems - regardless of technology heritage or technology choice. Ericsson offers 3G systems based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), cdma2000, and Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), and is the only supplier with a complete portfolio of second- and third-generation systems. Ericsson has set up WCDMA trial systems in the UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, Sweden and China. These fully-fledged 3G systems are used to test delivery of new services, leveraging Ericsson's more than 10 years of research in 3G technologies. Ericsson is also leading with experimental systems for multiple technologies, such as the first systems focusing on GSM-EDGE- WCDMA interoperability. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/10/10/20001010BIT00280/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/10/10/20001010BIT00280/bit0002.pdf