Ericsson selected as sole supplier for wireless broadband access by Skanova

1/14/2002 5:37 AM EST

Ericsson selected as sole supplier for wireless broadband access by
Skanova

Ericsson has been awarded a contract by Telia Group company, Skanova,
for delivery of a wireless broadband access network for Telia. Skanova
is the first operator in Sweden to select a supplier for an LMDS
wireless broadband network, following December 2001 award of licenses
for the spectrum in Sweden. Deployment of the network begins in the
first quarter of 2002.

The 2 year frame agreement covers supply of Ericsson's Wireless
Broadband Access, MINI-LINK. Skanova will offer both high capacity
services and more refined services for data communication, telephony and
Internet at user speeds up to 20 Mbit/s.

LMDS is a microwave-based access or transmission technology used by
operators to address enterprises, buildings or mobile base stations with
services, or to offer wholesale to other operators. LMDS is a
complementary technology to xDSL and fiber. Advantages for the operator
are that fiber-like services and capacities can be offered at
installation speeds dramatically shorter than with alternative
technologies.

"We have chosen the supplier that has the best combination of technical
performance, quality, first-class support and development competence,"
said Ove Alm, Marketing Director at Skanova. "We have positive
experiences with Ericsson's radio technology through previous projects
and our choice of supplier will enable a rapid introduction of our
products on the market."

The contract leverages Ericsson's global market leadership in microwave
access systems in which it holds a 40 percent market share. This is more
than twice as much as its closest competitor.

"We are proud to have obtained this strategic win from a firmly
established operator," said Karl Thedeen, Key Account Director for
Skanova, at Ericsson Nordic and Baltics. "Scandinavia is regarded as a
very important reference market by the whole LMDS industry. This win
demonstrates Ericsson's competence and the competitiveness of our
solutions."

Ericsson has already delivered more than 45 commercial LMDS systems
worldwide and its proven MINI-LINK point-to-point solution is deployed
in more than 110 countries

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

Ole Selchau, Press Manager, Ericsson Nordic & Baltics
Phone: +45 23 32 12 16, E-mail:  

About Skanova
Skanova is a wholesale network provider within the Telia Group of
companies. Skanova operates Sweden's largest network for telecom-,
internet- and broadbandservices, and offers its customers full network
access, services and support. The goal is to meet the growing need for
top quality services. The challenge lies in enhancing the
competitiveness of the customers with ground-breaking, sometimes
unexpected, solutions. Number of employees amounts to 2,700 employees,
and a turnover of approx. SEK 21,8 billion.

About LMDS
Local Multipoint Distribution Services - is a generic name for services
over wireless access networks operating in frequency bands between 24 to
31 GHz. Many countries globally are currently licensing LMDS spectrum.
Here, microwave technology is deployed to provide wireless broadband
access to other networks. Commonly this term is also used in the
industry as a broader term for such systems.

About MINI-LINK
With Ericsson's MINI_LINK system, operators can install broadband
services to new customers in just hours after signing up. Ericsson has
unmatched capabilities to support operators with its complete end-to-end
LMDS solutions - coupled with its industry-unique production capacity.
This allows Ericsson to smoothly handle rapid volume build-outs needed
by operators to assure that they can quickly establish market share and
achieve return on their investment.

For more information about Ericsson's wireless broadband access - LMDS,
see: http://www.ericsson.com/transmission/wba/