Mobile communications to revolutionize African weather monitoring

* Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, WMO, and Zain and other mobile
operators to deploy up to 5,000 automatic weather stations in
mobile network sites across Africa, where less than 300 are
reporting today

* Partnership will increase dissemination of weather information via
mobile phones to users and communities, including remote farmers
and fishermen

* First 19 stations deployed more than double Lake Victoria region
weather monitoring, where 5,000 people die every year due to storms
and accidents

The Global Humanitarian Forum and its President, former UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, together with Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), mobile telecommunications company
Zain, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, today announced
a major initiative, dubbed "Weather Info for All", to radically
improve Africa's weather monitoring network in the face of the
growing impact of climate change.

A recent Global Humanitarian Forum report estimated that climate
change is responsible for some 300,000 deaths each year and over USD
100 billion worth of economic losses, mainly because of shocks to
health and agricultural productivity. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for
close to a quarter of these losses, and is the region at the most
immediate risk of droughts and floods. Agricultural yields in some
areas are expected to fall by 50 percent as early as 2020.

The Global Humanitarian Forum initiated this collaboration in
response to Africa's severe gap in weather information highlighted at
the Forum's first annual event. The members of the initiative will
deploy up to 5,000 new automatic weather observation stations across
Africa, intending to provide a massive increase in crucial
information to predict and manage climate shocks.

Africa has a network eight times below the WMO minimum recommended
standard, and less than 200 weather stations that meet WMO
observation requirements, compared to several thousand each in
Europe, North America, and parts of Asia. The 5,000 weather stations
will be installed at new and existing mobile network sites throughout
the continent over coming years, in what promises to save lives and
bring increased economic opportunity to tens of millions of people.

An innovative public-private partnership on a unique scale, the
initiative relies on the core business of telecom. Ericsson, the
world's leading provider of telecommunications equipment and
services, will tap relationships with African operators such as Zain,
who will host the weather equipment at mobile network sites being
rolled out across Africa. Achieving the 5,000 target would require
additional operator commitment and external financing.

The launch was held at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk
Reduction, where Kofi Annan said: "The world's poorest are also the
world's most vulnerable when it comes to the impact of climate
change, and the least equipped to deal with its consequences. Today
you find cell phone towers in almost every part of Africa. We have
never been able to establish weather monitoring on that scale, until
now. By bringing together the expertise and resources of different
public and private actors, this project may help to save lives and
improve the livelihoods of communities in Africa living on the
frontlines of climate change."

Also present at the launch, Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO
of Ericsson, said: "As the leading provider of telecommunications in
Africa and active on the continent for more than 100 years, we are
driving the rapid expansion of mobile communications. This initiative
presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously help mitigate the
impact of climate change for those most affected and to strengthen
weather networks and systems across the continent. We look forward to
having more operators come on board to realize the full impact of the
initiative."

Mobile networks provide the necessary connectivity, power and
security to sustain the weather equipment. Through its Mobile
Innovation Center in Africa, Ericsson will also develop mobile
applications to help communicate weather information developed by
national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs) via mobile
phones. Mobile operators will maintain the automatic weather stations
and assist in the transmission of the data to national met services.

The initial deployment, already begun in Zain networks, focuses on
the area around Lake Victoria in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The
first 19 stations installed will double the weather monitoring
capacity of the Lake region.

Zain CEO Saad Al Barrak commented: "It is truly wonderful that many
communities across Africa will now have accurate meteorological
information readily available. Here we can see how mobile
communications can play a key role in helping to improve both the
quality of life and safety for people in the remotest parts of the
world."

Approximately 70 percent of Africans rely on farming for their
livelihood, or close to 700 million people, and over 95 percent of
Africa's agriculture depends on rainfall. Changing weather patterns
due to climate change render obsolete traditional knowledge relating
to agriculture otherwise reliable for centuries, creating a great
need for meteorological information.

Also present at the Geneva launch was Michel Jarraud,
Secretary-General of the WMO, the United Nations System's
authoritative voice on Weather, Climate and Water, which is
coordinating involvement of NMHSs participating in the initiative.
Jarraud said:

"For food production, almost every decision is linked to weather,
climate and water parameters. We see the Weather Info for All
initiative as a major pan-African effort to empower our 188 Members
to provide enhanced weather information and services. Working through
NMHSs, WMO will identify weather information needs, advise on
technical requirements and help disseminate the information. This
initiative may prove to be one of the most important for African
meteorology in decades. The project will also therefore support the
goals of the WMO-organized World Climate Conference-3, to be held
from 31 August to 4 September 2009 in Geneva."

The initiative will have an impact far beyond agriculture and
disaster preparation as it also includes assistance to national
meteorological services in training and technical capacities. Better
weather information will also make possible the development of
services, such as microinsurance, which can be based on weather data
indexes, such as rainfall. The initiative will also increase the
volume of information useful for scientists, as well as for the
water, transport and energy industries.

While the weather information gap is particularly acute in Africa,
the initiative would be open to later expansion into other affected
regions.

A further partner in the initiative is Columbia University's Earth
Institute, headed by Jeffrey Sachs. To help with distribution to some
of the most vulnerable and poorest parts of Africa and in partnership
with the Earth Institute, automatic weather stations will also be
installed in Millennium Villages - rural development projects spread
throughout 10 countries and focused on achieving the Millennium
Development Goals. By leveraging the expertise of Earth Institute
scientists on climatology, agriculture, and health, the project hopes
to identify key areas where there can be an immediate impact
contributing a sizable knowledge bank to the effort.
"The Earth Institute is a proud partner in this highly innovative
program," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the institute. "Once the
switch is turned on, a flow of extensive weather data will become
available throughout Africa, with benefits extending from the
national policy makers to the smallholder farmers. The Millennium
Villages is a perfect launch site for the practical and timely
application of weather data to bolster resilience and sustainable
development in sub-Saharan Africa."

Notes to editors:
Photo library: www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/photos/weather.shtml

Multimedia content will be available at the Ericsson broadcast room:
www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room

Global Humanitarian Forum and its report Human Impact Report: Climate
Change - The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis available at:
www.ghf-ge.org/programmes/human_impact_report/index.cfm,
www.ghf-ge.org
For more information about WMO and the World Climate Conference 3:
www.wmo.int

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services
to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile
technologies, and provides support for networks with over 1 billion
subscribers and has a leading position in managed services. The
company's portfolio comprises of mobile and fixed network
infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia
solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony
Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with
feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of "to be the prime driver in an
all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and
sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than
75,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 209 billion (USD 32.2
billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm,
Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New
York.

www.ericsson.com
www.ericsson.mobi
www.twitter.com/ericssonpress


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Ericsson
Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail:  

Global Humanitarian Forum
Keith Collins
Phone: +41 22 919 75 48, +41 76 703 53 33
Annika Hartmann
Phone: +41 22 919 75 17
Matthew McKinnon
Phone: +41 79 500 35 08
Email:  

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Carine Richard-Van Maele (Chief, Communications and Public Affairs)
Phone: +41 (0) 22 730 83 15
Email:  
Gaëlle Sévenier
Phone: +41 (0) 22 730 8417
Email:  
Lisa Muñoz
Phone: +41 (0) 22 730 82
Email:  

The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Xkyu-Young Lee
Phone: +1 646 337 3528
Email:  

Zain
Mwambu Wanendeya
Phone: +973 3603 5799
Email:  


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Source: Millistream / Hug