INTERVIEW: Ericsson's $1.7 Billion Deals Reflect Good Chinese Growth
July 08 2009 - 10:45AM
Dow Jones News
L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co's (ERIC) $1.7 billion frame
agreements with Chinese operators China Mobile and China Unicom are
indicative of the strong growth on the country's telecom equipment
market, the company's President of Greater China, Mats Olsson, said
Wednesday.
The value of the deals is roughly the same size as Ericsson's
entire sales to China in 2008, Olsson told Dow Jones Newswires,
adding that "this reflects the growth we feel in China."
Under the agreements, announced earlier Wednesday, the
Stockholm-based company will deliver both second-generation and
third-generation mobile equipment and services to the operators,
which in January were awarded 3G mobile phone business licenses
from the Chinese authorities.
Olsson described the composition of the deals as favourable,
noting that the Chinese operators are quickly adopting newer
technology, like 3G.
Ericsson has already started delivery under the frame
agreements, which will run for "a good part" of the remainder of
2009, Olsson said.
At 1406 GMT, shares in Ericsson were up 0.4% at SEK75.10,
outperforming a flat overall market in Stockholm.
Company Web site: http://www.ericsson.com
-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3099;
gustav.sandstrom@dowjones.com