Europe
: During the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Stockholm, Carl-Henric
Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, outlined the potential of
the telecom industry to shareholders.
Ericsson demonstrated
how operators can create new revenue streams andefficient operations
through the latest broadband technologies and multimedia services.
As the single
most profitable corporation in the business, holding the largest customer
base of the industry, Ericsson is uniquely positioned to tap the potential
of the main trends in telecommunications.
Ericsson's CEO
highlighted that 3G and its evolution, HSPA, is commercially available,
offering speeds of up to 14 Mbps, and enabling mobile broadband applications
such as mobile TV, video streaming and internet access.
Ericsson's HSPA
technology is now powering about 30 different networks, such as Cingular
in the US, Swisscom in Switzerland, Mobilkom in Austria and 3 in Italy.
Today, Ericsson announced the most recent HSDPA contract, with the
operator 3 Scandinavia.
Svanberg also
referred to the recent acquisition of Marconi, stating that combining
Ericsson and Marconi's long-standing expertise and product ranges
in broadband access and transport networks results in a powerful portfolio
for next-generation converged networks. This gives Ericsson the conditions
to significantly increase its market share on the wireline broadband
market.
Another important
trend in the industry is telecommunications services, with hosting
and managed services showing the fastest growth in the field. During
2005, the managed services business grew by 29 percent and became
the main component in the contracts with 3 in the Great Britain and
Italy; the biggest Ericsson has signed so far.
Svanberg underlined
the social and economic impact of mobile telephony. There will be
3 billion mobile subscribers before 2010. Just last year, 800 million
mobile phones were sold, making the mobile the most sold consumer
product in the world.