Ericsson strenghtens GSM position in South America - third expansion in Chile

Ericsson strengthens GSM position in South America - third expansion in Chile Ericsson has strengthened its position as a supplier of GSM systems on the South American market. With a third expansion contract from Entel PCS in Chile, Ericsson will support the expected growth in traffic - after the implementation of Calling Party Pays last month in Chile. The new contract includes GSM 1900 MHz solutions to meet Entel PCS's expanding customer base and allow the expansion of both network capacity and coverage throughout the country. Air time and penetration in the country is anticipated to increase even faster than today with the introduction of a Calling Party Pays regulation. Entel PCS will install Ericsson's new Base Station Controllers and Ericsson's new Release 7 software. This gives Entel PCS the latest GSM system functionality, allowing them to provide a wide range of packaged mobile services on one of South America's most demanding markets. "Our network is evolving fast to follow the rapid mobile market expansion. This is a key goal to Entel PCS as well as to a high technology provider as Ericsson. We're sure that Ericsson will meet our requirements as has been the case in the past," said Felipe Gonzalez Hill, Technical VP of Entel PCS. This is Entel PCS's third expansion contract with Ericsson since launching the network in March last year. The operator signed its first contract with Ericsson in July 1997. Since then the number of subscribers has increased significantly. Entel PCS has more than 180,000 GSM users - giving them a market share of close to 25%. Currently, Chile has a 6% penetration of mobile phone users. Ericsson delivers mobile systems to the two largest of the four mobile network operators in the country. Ericsson expanded Entel's nationwide GSM network, rolled-out in an impressively short period of six months. Fast network rollout is essential for operators today on all increasingly competitive markets. GSM is the world's most widely deployed wireless communications standard. Ericsson is the global market leader in GSM, with close to half of the world's 140 million GSM subscribers connected by Ericsson systems. More than 125 operators in some 65 countries around the world rely on GSM systems from Ericsson. 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 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Hans Severin, Key Account Manager, Compañía Ericsson de Chile Phone: +56 2 362 3445, +56 9 821 5980 Mr. Felipe Gonzalez Hill, Technical Vice President, Entel PCS Phone: +56 2 367 4817 Johan Wiklund, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 560 0134; E-mail: johan.wiklund@lme.ericsson.se Company Information Entel PCS is a subsidiary within the Entel Group - the leading and largest provider in Chile of services such as long distance calls, Internet, private voice and datacom services. Entel PCS is the second largest mobile network operator in Chile.