The Austrian network operator ONE has selected Ericsson as the sole supplier for its UMTS radio access network. Ericsson will deliver radio base stations and supplementary equipment for the nationwide 3G network of ONE in Austria. The contract has a value of up to EUR 160 million.
Ericsson will deliver the complete hardware and software for radio base stations, and equipment for network access control. Ericsson has been a supplier and partner to ONE in building their UMTS (WCDMA) radio network since July 2001. Deliveries in connection to the order announced today will start immediately. In the second half of 2004 the entire UMTS radio access network of ONE will comprise Ericsson network elements.
The UMTS radio network delivered by Ericsson is a future proof solution since it is already prepared for the migration to HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access), the next evolution in 3G. Today the network already allows for 384 kbit/s data throughput for best quality and functionality of services and applications like video telephony, video streaming and high- speed data download.
"We appreciate that ONE has selected Ericsson as the sole supplier of its UMTS radio network and is further reinforcing the long-standing relationship and partnership with Ericsson," says Kristian Teär, President Ericsson Market Unit Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "ONE will benefit from a future proof investment with the latest state-of-the-art UMTS technology."
"The cooperation with Ericsson as our sole provider of UMTS radio network systems brings ONE economic as well as logistic benefits," states ONE CEO Jørgen Bang-Jensen.
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.
For further information, please contact
Peter Olofsson, Director, Media Relations
Phone: +46 8 719 1880, +46 8 719 6992
E-mail: press.relations@ericsson.com
About ONE
In October 1998, the communications company ONE (ONE GmbH) launched Austria's only nation-wide GSM-1800 mobile telephony network. At the beginning of January 2004, ONE had about 1,200 employees and about 1.8 million customers (1.48 million mobile, 145,000 fixed line and 150,000 Internet customers). ONE is the only mobile telephony operator in Austria to offer HSCSD (ONE High Speed), GPRS and UMTS. On 1 July 2003, with ONE WLAN the company launched the most dense hotspot network in all of Austria from one provider. ONE places its focus on service, product development and usability, and with ONE SMILE it offers its customers an innovative and easy to use interface. The ONE billing process was certified in October 2003 in accordance with ISO 9001:2000 requirements. ONE has a population coverage of 98%. Turnover in 2002 amounted to approximately € 619.7 million. By the end of 2002, the company had invested a total of € 1.65 billion. ONE is owned by the German E.ON (50.10%), the Norwegian Telenor (17.45%), the French Orange (17.45%) and the Danish TDC (15%).
