Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been selected by leading Austrian operator mobilkom austria (mobilkom) to expand and upgrade its WCDMA network with the latest high-capacity HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) functionality in the region of Carinthia. The deal builds on earlier contracts between the companies and is allowing mobilkom austria subscribers to enjoy the fastest mobile-broadband speeds in Austria.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson is supplying its latest HSPA technology, enabling high-speed mobile broadband with uplink speeds of up to 1.4Mbps and peak downlink speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, fully supporting currently available end-user devices that allow download rates of up to 7.2Mbps. 

Ericsson's HSPA solution boosts network capacity and cuts response times for interactive services. The upgrade of mobilkom austria's existing network will increase the performance of mobile broadband and enable the operator to expand its mobile broadband offering into Carinthia.

Boris Nemsic, CEO of Telekom Austria Group and CEO of mobilkom austria, says: "With Ericsson's HSPA solution, we are now able to offer the most advanced multimedia services to our 3.9 million customers across Austria, reaffirming our position as the leading mobile operator."

Peter Zehetner, Managing Director of Ericsson Austria, says: "We are proud to continue our long-running relationship with mobilkom austria. This contract highlights Ericsson's ability to provide cutting-edge solutions to one of the most advanced markets for mobile broadband in Europe."

Ericsson is the leading supplier of HSPA in the world, powering more than 75 commercial mobile-broadband networks.

Notes to editors:
Ericsson's WCDMA/HSPA reference list:
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/3g_reference.shtml 

 

Ericsson Media Relations

Phone: +46 8 719 69 92

E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com

With 3.9 million customers and a market share of 40.3 percent, mobilkom austria is Austria's leading mobile operator. The company, headquartered in Vienna, has generated revenues of EUR 1,726.6 million in the 2006 business year. mobilkom austria's innovation leadership is marked by the worldwide first GPRS Launch in August 2000 and one of Europe's first commercial UMTS network launched in Austria in April 2003 and worldwide first HSDPA in the UMTS network in January 2006 and HSUPA in February 2007. With mobilkom austria group, the success of mobilkom austria extends beyond Austria's borders. mobilkom austria group includes mobilkom austria, Vipnet in Croatia, Si.mobil in Slovenia, Mobiltel in Bulgaria, mobilkom Liechtenstein, Vip mobile in Serbia, Vip operator in Macedonia and MDC in Belarus.

HSPA stands for High-Speed Packet Access. An inherent advantage of HSPA is that the technology is a natural extension of existing WCDMA/GSM networks, or about 85 percent of the world's existing wireless networks, and therefore has the potential to be readily available to a large number of wireless users, creating a mass market for mobile broadband. By 2010, 71 percent of mobile broadband connections are projected to be HSPA-based.

Ericsson's HSPA mobile broadband solution, part of Ericsson's Full Service Broadband offering, today enables download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps and upload speeds of 1.4Mbps. The advanced technology lets operators more than double their system capacity and cuts response times for interactive services. On average, users will be able to download 20 times faster than with a GSM/GPRS connection. Future evolution steps will increase the HSPA download speed to 42Mbps and the upload speed to 12Mbps. Ericsson offers HSPA support on many frequency bands, ranging from 850MHz to 2.6GHz.