Ericsson doubles fun for spectators in South Africa

By Prince Osuagwu
As the thrills and frills of the 2010 Fifa World cup was catching up with nations across the world which gathered in South Africa for the mundial, Global telecommunications equipment and infrastructure providers,  Ericsson was somewhere in the same south Africa, displaying the feat and tenacity of using technology to unite the world just like Football is agreed to be doing.

While the ovation was high weekend in all parts of South Africa, for nations which teams progressed to the next stage, somewhere in Johanessburg where Ericsson’s office is located, there was also a loud ovation as the company demonstrated world’s fastest internet to a teeming crowd that have been following the company’s exploits closely.

The demonstration was part of the company’s entry style to the burgeoning new technology, the Long Term Evolution LTE, touted to have the capacity to change the derogatory meaning attached to anything on the fast lane. The speed in which the technology is said to posses is expected to put the world on the fast lane, but for good.
“LTE is a 4G technology that is upgraded the 2G and 3G networks. It is the next generation of mobile communication technology and an integral part of the full service broadband concept, that enables the fast transfer of the increasing amounts of data in an efficient and cost-effective way.

LTE optimizes the use of the scarce frequency spectrum and uses its high-speed data over mobile networks to enable a rich suite of services and applications, whether multimedia-based, business-centric, or just for enjoyment.

The increased speed and significantly decreased response times referred as latency, means that consumers can enjoy a wide range of applications such as real-time multiplayer online action gaming, social media collaboration and video conferencing effortlessly and while on the move.

For those who these explanations may sound Greek, Ericsson decided to use a month, beginning from Monday penultimate, to organise within its offices in Jo’Burg, a demonstration to showcase of the latest in multimedia and broadband technologies, including Long Term Evolution (LTE) to enable visitors experience the technology first hand and learn more about the capabilities of the services.

The company also used the opportunity to exhibit its end-to-end, activities in Mobile TV, Multimedia, Networks, and Business Communication Suites, among others.

Head of Ericsson Region sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Lars Lindén, admitted that “the use of mobile broadband is growing quickly, especially driven by consumers powered with smart phones and connected laptops and we at Ericsson envision 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

The aim of this demo is to show true end-to-end solutions in terms of user services that operators are demanding for our customer now and not so far into the future. With the combination of our technology leadership and services capabilities, we are equipped to support our customers in building networks that manage the increased usage while at the same time providing consumers with the best experience,”

He explained that just like the Internet, the larger and faster the pipe, the faster one can access data, adding that while the download of a three minute music video on a slower network can take several minutes, using a 100Mbps connection, the downloaded can just be done under a second.

According to him, Ericsson had already signed commercial LTE contracts with five major global operators; AT&T and Verizon in the US, TeliaSonera in Norway and Sweden, MetroPCS in the US and DoCoMo in Japan.  “Ericsson has been driving open standards and has had the highest impact on the released LTE specifications. We expect to hold over 25 percent of all essential patents for LTE, to become the largest patent holder in the industry. After all, Ericsson Research, won an award in last month for the best contribution to LTE standards at the Informa LTE awards 2010. That adds another feather in our 4G technology cap” he added.

Ericsson is perhaps, expecting the assume the position riding on the back of its strong profile as the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. The company is undoubtedly an influence in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 1 billion subscribers.

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.