Ericsson will supply the necessary EDGE network infrastructure and equipment, including the upgrade of associated core network and supply of radio access equipment for the activation of EDGE.

DiGi's Chief Technical Officer, Jon Eddy, said that the alliance was in line with DiGi's commitment to give its customers a seamless migration to next generation-wireless services.

"We are now working with two partners to implement our aggressive expansion plan to upgrade the network, enabling our more than 2.2 million customers to enhance their mobile multimedia experience with high speed data access," added Mr. Eddy.

Ericsson's involvement in DiGi's network enhancement underlines the strong partnership between the two parties.

"Ericsson has been a key partner in the deployment of DiGi's GSM network and we are honoured to be part of this significant milestone in the evolution its network in Klang Valley," said Mats H Olsson, Ericsson Malaysia's President & Country Manager.

"We hope that we can bring to the partnership some key learnings from our EDGE implementation experience that will enable DiGi to offer rich consumer experiences through new and exciting services, as well as support its needs for changing business models and high quality standards in end-to-end solutions," he added.

According to Ericsson Malaysia's Key Account Vice President for DiGi, Eric Timmer, Ericsson is fully committed to ensuring DiGi's smooth transition to advanced services via EDGE, adding that the account team would also rely on its strengths in service layer solutions and access to global applications and experiences via Ericsson Mobility World to support this goal.

DiGi, a subsidiary of the Telenor Group of Norway, is one of Malaysia's leading mobile communications providers.