STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — (Marketwire) — 02/03/12 —

Switzerland-s largest operator Swisscom and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have
launched
a partnership to develop the M2M market. Swisscom will offer enterprises,
from
different industries both in Switzerland as well as Swisscom customers
abroad,
services to leverage efficiencies along their customers- value chain from
production to distribution. Swisscom-s M2M offering is based on Ericsson-s
market-proven Device Connection Platform, which allows for cost-efficient
management of a large number of connected devices and machines. The first
trials
will start in February 2012. The commercial introduction of services is
scheduled for the summer 2012.

Several hundred thousand machines are already connected in Switzerland.
Swisscom
predictions indicate that this number will grow significantly in the coming
years, and that in the long run, the addressable market will comprise up to
100
million connected devices and machines in Switzerland alone. Industries
that
benefit from M2M communication are typically utilities, government,
transport
and healthcare, but the potential for its use extends well beyond that.

Urs Schaeppi, Head of Swisscom Corporate Business Unit, says: “We are
entering
this partnership – in which Ericsson supports us not only with its M2M
connectivity platform, but also with its extensive experience of the
worldwide
M2M market – with the clear ambition not only to be first in an emerging
market,
but also to provide our customers with the kind of superior offering they
are
used to from us. Our ambition is to provide enterprise customers with a
scalable, easy-to-configure-and-maintain, telecom-grade solution that helps
them
to leverage the full potential of their M2M connectivity and gain a
competitive
advantage.”

Swisscom-s early mover advantage, as one of Ericsson-s first Device
Connection
Platform customers, gives them the potential to address new revenue
streams. The
Device Connection Platform cloud service will allow Swisscom to grow
flexibly
according to demand from its enterprise customers from different
industries. The
pay-as-you-grow business model allows the operator a fast time to market.
Ericsson-s M2M solution is industry-agnostic, and can easily be adapted to
different industries- and customers- needs.

Anders Runevad, Head of Region Western & Central Europe, Ericsson, says:
“We
have built out our leading position as an M2M solution provider to
operators
worldwide and now we are partnering with Swisscom in one of the world-s
first
large-scale M2M market introductions. We have connected billions of people
to
date with mobile networks. Now we are starting to address the Networked
Society
with our vision of more than 50 billion connected devices – primarily from
M2M
connectivity in all kinds of industries – by 2020 worldwide.”

Compared with today-s end-user-focused SIM card subscription management,
operators need to streamline handling of data traffic, charging, billing,
maintenance and upgrade of their M2M solutions in a much leaner, cost-
efficient
way in their networks. Since the M2M market is very diverse in terms of
customer
requirements, operators need an industry-agnostic platform that supports
them in
easily creating specific or customized types of service offerings. The
different
kinds of customers lead to varying demands on, for example, bandwidth and
quality of service.

About Ericsson-s Device Connection Platform

The Device Connection Platform is a managed connectivity platform, provided
as a
service, for mobile operators and mobile virtual network operators for the
wholesale of M2M connectivity towards enterprises. It enables operators to
address new revenue streams from a vast variety of devices while
simplifying the
process and reducing the cost of connecting them in order to benefit from
economies of scale. The platform provides access to key functionalities
including subscription management, device management and operator and
enterprise
self-service portals.

Notes to editors:

Press release on Ericsson and M2M; “Next step in M2M communication with
Telenor
Connexion”

White paper on 50 billion connected devices;

Product description of the Device Connection Platform;

Our multimedia content is available at the 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 180 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated
revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876
with
the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX,
Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

Press release as PDF:

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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
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(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Ericsson via Thomson Reuters ONE

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