Ericsson and Telstra make the first inter-city call over commercial LTE

• Sydney and Melbourne are the first Australian cities to be linked using LTE in a significant milestone for LTE testing in Australia

• The high definition videoconference call formed part of ongoing LTE trials between Ericsson and Telstra

• Ericsson’s commercial LTE infrastructure has been integrated into the live Telstra environment and the core of the Next G network, supported by the Ericsson LTE Global Competence Centre in Melbourne

Australian consumers and businesses today took a step closer to an enhanced mobile broadband experience as Ericsson and Telstra announced Australia’s first inter-city connection using Long Term Evolution (LTE) next-generation mobile broadband technology.

LTE was employed to link Melbourne and Sydney on a high definition video conference call using the very latest Ericsson commercial radio and core network infrastructure integrated into Telstra’s operational Next G mobile network.

Telstra and Ericsson are conducting trials of LTE technology as the operator explores its potential to economically meet the future demand for mobile broadband and communication services. The Ericsson trial involves integration of commercial LTE equipment into the operational Telstra network across four sites, using LTE hardware and software that is being deployed on commercial LTE networks across the globe, and locally supported by the Ericsson LTE Global Competence Centre in Melbourne.

Ericsson ANZ CEO Sam Saba said the video conference call was a landmark event that underlined the potential capacity advantages of LTE for mobile network operators.

“Since Telstra and Ericsson launched the Next G network in 2006 we’ve worked closely together to establish Next G as one of the world’s most advanced and successful networks.

“LTE represents the future of mobile broadband. The higher data speeds of LTE are well known but the true benefits of LTE lie in the areas of superior capacity and efficiency,” he said.

“The huge demand for data traffic means that capacity relief is a major challenge for mobile network operators. Deploying LTE can be likened to upgrading a two-lane road to an eight-lane freeway, enabling much more traffic to be carried and making the experience more enjoyable for end users,” said Mr Saba.

LTE will further facilitate the delivery of bandwidth intensive wireless applications, such as mobile healthcare, security surveillance and newscasting, transforming the way people live and work.

“The joint LTE trials have been a great success, allowing us to explore its performance across a number of criteria. LTE has unique characteristics that result in network capacity improvements, enabling operators to continue to deliver quality of service and consistency of throughput to an increasing number of customers and applications on our network,” said Mike Wright, executive director Telstra Networks & Access Technologies.

“LTE will ensure the mobile broadband experience is a reliable and enjoyable one for more customers further into the future,” said Mr Wright.

To date, Ericsson has signed commercial LTE contracts with eight major global operators, three of which are in the United States, the world’s fastest growing LTE market.

This global expertise has been directly involved in the Telstra trial. The Ericsson LTE Global Competence Centre in Melbourne is one of only three in the world and since 2008 it has been responsible for the development of LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) capability for Ericsson globally. Customers supported out of Melbourne include Verizon, AT&T and MetroPCS in the US, TeliaSonera, Vodafone and numerous operators across Europe, SingTel and many additional operators across Asia, and of course Telstra.

In addition, Ericsson has been driving open standards with very early involvement in LTE research and development, and has had the highest impact on the released LTE specifications. Ericsson expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry.

Ericsson’s LTE infrastructure for the Telstra trial includes an end-to-end LTE RAN and EPC  (Evolved Packet Core) network comprising of eNodeB radio base stations, MME (Mobility Management Entity), CPG  (Converged Packet Gateway), HSS (Home Subscriber Server), OSS  (Operational Support System), and USB dongles.

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For further information please contact:

John Papanidis
External Relations Manager
Ericsson Australia/NZ
Mob 0401 237 854
john.papanidis@ericsson.com

Notes to editors:

Whitepaper:
http://www.ericsson.com/technology/whitepapers/

Long Term Evolution media kit
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/mediakit/lte.shtml

Ericsson LTE achievement list
http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/lte_achievement.shtml

Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room

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 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company's portfolio comprises 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 being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 80,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 206.5 billion (USD 27.1 billion) in 2009. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

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