Ericsson, Telenor Ink Five-Year Agreement for Radio Hardware

Ericsson has entered into a five-year global framework agreement with Telenor Group to provide radio hardware and professional services.

The deal, covers the rollout of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, as well as installation, operational support, hardware and software support, and maintenance.

Ericsson will, under the agreement, offer multi-standard RBS6000 family of base stations.

Hilde Tonne, EVP and Head of Group Industrial Development, Telenor Group said: “LTE will be one of the major investment areas for us in the coming years. Given our long-standing and solid relationship with Ericsson, this agreement will enable us to deliver a high quality customer experience and secure the most efficient networks possible for Telenor’s Business Units.

 “The agreement sets a basis for Ericsson to proactively deliver innovative solutions, strengthen its collaboration capabilities and meet the strategic ambitions of Telenor. We are already co-operating on radio projects in Myanmar, Thailand and India and we are confident that the work we are doing together will provide a richer, more stable experience for our customers and contribute to the success of our ‘Internet for All’ strategy.”

Thomas Norén, vice president, Head of Radio Product Management at Ericsson also said, “This framework agreement with Telenor confirms Ericsson’s position as market leader in LTE technology. The flexibility and reliability of our radio networks and the comprehensive professional services we offer allow our customers to offer the best possible service to their subscribers, even as markets and technologies continue to develop.”

The Ericsson RBS6000 radio base station can operate on all standards – GSM, WCDMA and LTE – and offers a seamless, integrated and environmentally friendly solution that is forward-compatible.

Ericsson is the market leader in LTE. 50 percent of the world’s LTE smartphone traffic is currently served by Ericsson networks, which is more than double the traffic of our closest competitor.

Ericsson is present today in all high-traffic LTE markets including the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Canada, and has also been selected by the top 10 LTE operators, as ranked by LTE subscriptions worldwide.

Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 13 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as an economic stake of 33 per cent in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 17 markets.

Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world’s major mobile operators with 176 million mobile subscriptions in its consolidated operations per Q2 2014, revenues of NOK 104 billion in 2013, and a workforce of about 33,000.