Ericsson to concentrate on mobile Internet system

By Christiani Tumelap

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (JP): In light of the swift convergence of telecommunications and computer technology, mobile telecommunications company Ericsson says it is now concentrating on providing a mobile Internet system and devices for it.

Vice president of external relations of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Pia Gideon said in order to support the new business vision, Ericsson had agreed with U.S.-based software company Microsoft to soon establish a company that would develop mobile Internet applications, such as wireless e-mail.

"Mobile Internet will be the major driven factor in Ericsson's business development in the future. It brings significant business opportunities to us," she told journalists during a three-day visit to Ericsson's head office in Stockholm early this week.

She said Ericsson took some strategic business steps by acquiring some stakes at information technology companies, such as Qualcomm, Torrent and TouchWave, in order to provide it with a complete product portfolio in cellular technology and data communications.

Ericsson is upbeat about seeing a robust growth of mobile Internet business this year and in the future, she said.

"Mobile Internet is becoming a reality as the mobile phone and the Internet market and industries have developed rapidly over the years," she said.

She said the new business emphasis would not likely be hard to implement since Ericsson's main business was in the development of mobile telecommunications infrastructure and systems for network operators, in addition to the manufacturing of mobile phones and establishing of fixed line telephony.

The mobile infrastructure business contributed 51 percent to Ericsson's total sales in 1999, while mobile telephony products contributed 21 percent, followed by fixed line service with 19 percent, she said.

Gideon said in order to pave the way for a smooth development of mobile Internet operation, Ericsson had been conducting research in developing a third-generation (3G) wireless multimedia standard for the delivery of wideband multimedia services through mobile telephones since 1989.

A 3G telecommunications system is a new mobile telecommunications technology that will provide high-speed wireless, mobile access to Internet-based services.

Gideon said Ericsson had so far provided its mobile Internet- based business solutions and other 3G telecommunications applications to various companies, including news agencies Reuters and Dow Jones, Internet search engine LYCOS, Scandinavian airline SAS, Dutch daily paper De Telegraaf, Japanese NTT DoCoMo, British Telecom, Latin American Diginet, Dutch KPN and Spanish Telefonica.

She said some of the eight new mobile phone products to be launched later this year would also be Internet-enabled, such as the R380, or had 3G technology included, such as the MP3 Player and the wireless hands-free device, the Bluetooth Headset.

Ericsson will also launch into the global market in the first quarter several 3G mobile phones, such as the T18-TDMA and A1228- TDMA, which, unfortunately, will not come to Indonesia this year because there are no operators in the country that have the license to operate at the designed frequency used in TDMA.

Indonesia

Sandra de Brito, the 3G manager for Ericsson's London office, said the growth of mobile Internet and 3G technology use might be slower in some countries, including Indonesia, due to the lack of access to the Internet and mobile phones.

There are less than 2.5 million cellular phone users, about 6 million fixed line telephone subscribers and some 2 million computer users among Indonesia's total population of 210 million.

"But Indonesia should not be so worried about being left behind so much, because there is still a great chance for the country to boost its telecommunications and Internet industries in order to make a big leap," she told The Jakarta Post.

"What you should do is enhance the mobile phone and Internet markets ... Telecommunications and Internet service providers should provide products at a more reasonable price to the mass market," she said.

De Brito said in order to accelerate the country's adaptation to mobile Internet, Indonesia needs to have telecommunications operators that provide the 3G telecommunications technology, such as the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), to deliver the service in cooperation with Internet-based companies.

Indonesia's government, however, has been delaying the issuance of new licenses for operators to operate the 3G telecommunications technology.