Under the agreement, Ericsson will upgrade TeliaSonera International Carrier's Voice network from circuit-switched technology to Ericsson's IP based Telephony Softswitch solution.

The contract covers international switch applications for Europe and the United States, enabling TeliaSonera International Carrier to offer its customers voice, data and multimedia services with the same functionality, security and quality as it does today, but with the added benefits of overall increased scalability and new product creation opportunities. One of the new product features to be made available via this upgrade is the introduction of VoIP services.

'We are already known as one of the main IP European Tier1 carriers', says Anders Ericsson, Head of Product Management at TeliaSonera International Carrier. 'The Telephony Softswitch solution from Ericsson will allow us to achieve true convergence of our Voice and IP networks whilst at the same time we can further improve our efficiency and support revenue generation.'

Karl Thedéen, Vice President of Wireline at Ericsson, says: "We are pleased that our Telephony Softswitch solution has been selected by TeliaSonera International Carrier who is a front-runner in the global telecommunications industry."

"This contract confirms Ericsson's Telephony Softswitch as the most advanced solution in the market and our leading position as a long-term partner for the evolution towards all-IP networks," he added.

Ericsson has more than 30 Telephony Softswitch solution customers around the world. Industry leading operators have implemented or are on the way to implement layered architecture to meet the challenges of today at the same time as they have a clear roadmap to all IP.