MarketShare Telecom will manage Ericsson Enterprise's existing resellers, and will recruit a significant number of additional resellers in the U.S. and Canada to ensure good geographical coverage.

"This agreement opens up access to a much broader potential customer base than we have had historically in the U.S. and Canada," said Gunnar Reinholdsen, head of Partner Unit Americas at Ericsson Enterprise. "MarketShare Telecom will help Ericsson drive brand recognition and sales in the enterprise sector by giving us a geographic footprint that covers 85 percent of addressable opportunities. It will also improve the service and support we provide to distributors, resellers and customers."

The agreement mirrors Ericsson Enterprise's successful two-tier indirect sales model in other markets around the world, whereby 'value-added distributors' are responsible for channel support and development.

As Ericsson Enterprise's master distributor in North America, MarketShare Telecom will focus on the sales and support of IP-enabled hybrid PBX solutions, featuring the recently launched MD110 Convergence Communication System, together with the new Dialog 4000 series IP and digital business telephones. The emphasis will be on new mobile enterprise solutions, encompassing contact centers, messaging, data networking and cabling products and services.

Ericsson Enterprise offers a complete portfolio of products and applications to address business communications.