Ericsson wins breakthrough USD 100 million AXE contract in Romania

Ericsson wins breakthrough USD 100 million AXE contract in Romania Ericsson has won an AXE contract valued at USD 100 million (SEK 830 million) with national operator RomTelecom in Romania. Ericsson's AXE solutions will enable RomTelecom to offer their customers improved Internet and voice services. Ericsson will deliver its latest AXE switching solutions to RomTelecom's national wireline network. The contract is signed by Ericsson's cooperation partner in Greece, INTRACOM S.A. Ericsson's open AXE switching solutions enable RomTelecom full integration with IP and other datacom networks, efficiently supporting both robust datacom and voice applications. With this AXE expansion, RomTelecom can also efficiently leverage investments in AXE for wireline or mobile usage to smoothly expand into a multi-service network, offering users a wide range of services from different devices. Ericsson significantly strengthens its position in Romania with this contract, bringing the company's market share of wireline switching to close to 50 percent. Ericsson's solutions will enable RomTelecom to offer improved services to both residential and business users. Apart from an enhanced network, Ericsson's remote switching solutions now make it possible for inhabitants in rural areas for the first time to make a phone call. In cities and other places, business users can be more efficient with the improved network quality. "Leveraging our long-term cooperation with INTRACOM, the company is now also further expanding into the Balkan area following the Greek operator OTE's expansions. Together with earlier investments in operators in the region, OTE is the number one operator in the Balkan area, with its 60 million inhabitants," says Torsten Pålsson, Business Manager for Greece, at Ericsson Wireline Systems. Ericsson has also showed its perseverance by recently signing other contracts with RomTelecom, including access and wireless transport solutions. With a population of 23 million inhabitants, Romania currently has a penetration of 15 wireline phone lines per 100 inhabitants. Ericsson is currently delivering equipment to three mobile network operators in the country. Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecom 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 Johan Wiklund, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 560 0134; E-mail: johan.wiklund@lme.ericsson.se Torsten Pålsson, Business Manager for Greece, Ericsson Wireline Systems Phone: +46 70 519 2150; E-mail: torsten.palsson@etx.ericsson.se About Intracom Intracom has a strategic license agreement with Ericsson. With the agreement, Intracom produces value-added solutions to the AXE core for local use. The company is also an outsourced design center for Ericsson, adding software development for Ericsson's international AXE solutions.