Higher data speeds and mobility key to continued growth

November 11, 2004

"Voice went mobile, now broadband is going mobile. Ericsson aims to bring broadband connectivity to everyone, wherever they are, not only over wireline, but now also over wireless networks. Mobile broadband services can be launched with any 3G technology," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, president and CEO of Ericsson, at Ericsson Fall Capital Markets Day in San Diego.

"Confidence is back in the industry; we are seeing an increased focus on business development and revenue growth," said Svanberg, reiterating the market outlook that was given in the third quarter report. "The temporary catch up effect inflates the total mobile systems market growth in 2004. Therefore, compared to total growth in 2004, we expect the global market for mobile systems to show slight growth in 2005. Excluding this catch up effect in 2004, we estimate a moderate underlying market growth in 2005."

Consumers demand services that are easy to use, reliable and secure regardless of device and access method.

Svanberg highlighted mobile broadband as a very attractive business opportunity for operators. "Ericsson believes the combination of growing demand for broadband access, strong growth of laptop penetration and increasingly pervasive coverage of mobile networks is fast developing into a new and growing telecom service - mobile broadband," said Svanberg.

Svanberg emphasized that the United States is Ericsson's largest market.

"We have a strong position in the United States, five of the largest wireless operators are Ericsson customers. We see new business opportunities in services, particularly in managed services, but also in new federal government business," said Svanberg.

Mobile broadband offers bandwidths similar to what DSL and cable offer today - but with the added advantage of being wireless, and accessible on the move. It enables you to work anywhere, makes staying in touch more simple and easy to manage.

Svanberg underlined the importance of true end-to-end capabilities when operators increasingly are focusing on providing new services to their customers, combining voice, data, images and video to offer maximum consumer convenience.

Svanberg also pointed out the importance of telecom grade expertise to guarantee consumer convenience and that IMS is a cornerstone in enabling converged consumer services.

"The evolution to all-IP service delivery is a natural step for both fixed and mobile communications. The challenge for operators today is how to deliver IP services without sacrificing real-time performance," said Carl-Henric Svanberg.