First Ericsson ENGINE Integral contract in Latin America with Brazilian CTBC

First Ericsson ENGINE Integral contract in Latin America with Brazilian CTBC Ericsson has signed the first ENGINE Integral contract in Latin America with CTBC Telecom. The deal will provide next-generation services for the operator's existing 650,000 fixed and 200,000 mobile users. CTBC Telecom is the third Brazilian operator to adopt ENGINE as the solution for upgrading of its backbone infrastructure towards a multi-service network for voice, data and high-speed Internet. Ericsson's ENGINE solution will migrate CTBC Telecom's network to a next- generation network, able to carry voice, data and Internet traffic, to more than one million citizens in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The installation will be carried out during fourth quarter of 2001. "Ericsson's ENGINE Integral Network concept is innovative and we will be pioneers in Brazil adopting such solution," said Osvaldo Firmino, CTBC Telecom Operations and Technical Director. "This concept will allow us to provide services through a single network, a unified system." "Furthermore our network speed and capacity will also be improved," emphasizes Mr. Firmino. "There are many benefits for the operator in terms of cost reduction and in terms of capability to offer a larger variety of services to our users." "We are very pleased that CBTC has chosen Ericsson's ENGINE solution to upgrade their network with new services and we are confident that it will help them become even more competitive in the new Brazilian market scenario," said Rogério Loripe Guimarães, Vice President of Technology and Products at Ericsson Brazil. ENGINE Integral is a new optimized network, which is cost-effective for the operator and prepared to provide a new range of services, mainly related to the rapid Internet growing. Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world. Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Peter Olofsson, Director Public Relations, Ericsson Division Multi-Service Networks Phone: +46 8 719 1880, +46 70 267 3445 E-mail: peter.olofsson@etx.ericsson.se About the ENGINE Integral Network The main element of ENGINE Integral Network solution is the Telephony Server. It can centralize the intelligence (call control, services, charging) of the whole telephony network in one single node. In the access layer, all subscribers can be connected straight to a Media Gateway through open standards - expansion through traditional telephony switches are not necessary anymore. All the network traffic is carried by a Packet Backbone Network based on IP/ATM, allowing the operator to eliminate its circuit infrastructure. About ENGINE ENGINE is Ericsson's global multi-service network offering for operators of fixed networks, designed for real-time services; a network able to carry large and growing volumes of IP-based traffic. The ENGINE concept efficiently builds new and migrates operators' current circuit-switched networks into a single, next generation network, based on ATM and IP packet switching technologies. To date, Ericsson has received 51 contracts for ENGINE-type solutions including WorldCom, EdisonTel, eircom, Diveo, BT, Telia Denmark and Telia Europe, KPN and others.