"Ericsson is driving the future growth of broadband in the segments connected homes and networked enterprises," says Karl Thedéen, Vice President, Wireline, Ericsson.

Ericsson is addressing the importance of extensive service bundling such as IPTV, IP telephony for residential customers. For enterprises bundled services include both IP Centrex and IP PBXs as well as push mail and video telephony. Furthermore, service transparency between fixed and mobile terminals will be required for consumer convenience.

Being a competitive service provider in the new broadband world requires flexibility in strategies. In urban areas a fiber deep network, providing ultra high-speed internet access is required to attract early adopters while cost conscious late adopters require a cost efficient access network. In rural areas radio transmission, micro DSL sites and wireless access are optimal solutions.

Ericsson is the prime driver in IP and Ethernet based access solutions with more than 60 commercial contracts, enabling advanced service such as IPTV and broadcasted media.

Previously delivering telephony services over IP has been associated with compromising on quality, service capabilities or scalability. With the Ericsson Telephony Softswitch solution the issues are solved and IP based technology can now be used for large-scale transformation of telephony networks. Ericsson has demonstrated leadership in this transformation with more than 35 Telephony Softswitch customers worldwide.

Service transparency is another key element for operators differentiating their service offerings. Ericsson's innovative IMS solution is the enabler for converged voice and multimedia communication services. Ericsson has 27 IMS contracts with operators for both fixed and mobile services.