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Ericsson signs contracts for Rostelecom Mobile and Content Delivery Networks

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — (Marketwire) — 06/29/12 —

* Rostelecom expands its partnership with Ericsson through contract for
cutting-edge mobile and content delivery networks solutions – including
RBS
6000 base stations across 4,000 locations

* The expanded network will provide converged mobile and fixed services
across
Russia and reach more than 60 percent of the population

* Rostelecom-s 43 million households will benefit from enhanced video and
media content experience and improved 2G/3G nationwide coverage

With its 143 million habitants, Russia represents Europe-s largest mobile
market
by mobile connections, reaching 227 million in the first quarter of 2012.
In
recent years, more subscribers have also gained mobile connections in
Russia per
quarter than in any other country in Europe. To meet the growing demand for
greater access to high-speed internet and data transfers, Rostelecom – the
country-s fourth-largest national operator with a presence in all Russian
regions – has signed a contract with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to launch a
new
mobile and content delivery network. As a result, Rostelecom-s 43 million
households will be able to enjoy converged mobile and fixed services as
well as
an enhanced video and media content user experience, thanks to the
cutting-edge
solutions that Ericsson will provide.

The network will support the largest area coverage and customer reach in
Russia,
covering more than 60 percent of the population, and will be built with
Ericsson-s equipment and complete mobile solution, including Operations
Support
Systems (OSS), packet core and radio. Ericsson will install RBS 6000 base
stations that support GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA and are LTE-ready across 4,000
locations, and the network will have a total capacity of 1Tbit per second.

In urban centers such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, mobile penetration
has
been as high as 210 percent in recent years, and Rostelecom-s new network
will
cover these major cities, as well as Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg.

Ivan Zima, Vice president, CTO, Rostelecom, says: “The new network will
enable
us to offer our users a full range of converged information and telecom
services
in mobile and fixed networks across the country. By meeting the demand for
anytime connectivity and access to mobile services, we hope that more
people
will benefit from the positive effects that connectivity brings.”

Robert Puskaric, Head of Ericsson-s Region Northern Europe and Central
Asia,
says: “The solution will benefit Rostelecom-s subscribers with improved
user
experience in terms of content quality and speed. It will also benefit the
operator in terms of savings in data transmission and bandwidth, and enable
revenue-generating opportunities from new video services that the network
supports. All this will improve Rostelecom-s competitive edge.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will deliver equipment for the
new
Rostelecom 2G and 3G networks, including multi-standard RBS 6000 radio base
stations, circuit- and packet-switched networks with Evolved Packet Core
and
OSS.

The multi-standard radio base station is a core component of Ericsson-s
philosophy for network development, providing a cost-effective deployment
for
the next-generation of high-speed mobile broadband, video, and
web-application
services, while providing subscribers with a superior user experience.

About Rostelecom

Rostelecom () is Russia-s national telecommunications operator
and
now also includes the regional incumbent telecommunications operators
(CentreTelecom, SibirTelecom, Dalsvyaz, Uralsvyazinform, VolgaTelecom,
North-West Telecom and Southern Telecommunications Company) and
Dagsvyazinform.
Rostelecom has the largest domestic backbone network (approximately 500
thousand
km) and last mile connections to approximately 43 million households in
Russia.

The Company holds licences to provide a wide range of telecommunications
services (telephony, data, TV and value-added solutions) to residential,
corporate and governmental subscribers and third party operators across all
regions of the Russian Federation. The Rostelecom brand is one of Russia-s
ten
most trusted brands (source: Romir market research).

NOTES TO EDITORS

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Ericsson is the world-s leading provider of communications technology and
services. We are enabling the Networked Society with efficient real-time
solutions that allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely,
in
sustainable societies around the world.

Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within
Information
and Communications Technology for telecom operators and other industries.
Today
more than 40 percent of the world-s mobile traffic goes through Ericsson
networks and we support customers- networks servicing more than 2 billion
subscribers.

We operate in 180 countries and employ more than 100,000 people. Founded in
1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2011 the company
had
revenues of SEK 226,9 billion (USD 35.0 billion). Ericsson is listed on
NASDAQ
OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.

Ericsson signs contracts for Rostelecom Mobile & Content Delivery Ne:

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