IHS Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | The collaboration aims to establish a community for the development of sustainable climate solutions based on 4G technologies in South Korea. |
Implications | Ericsson is striving to establish itself as a leader in the development of 4G and green technologies in order to secure business opportunities which will emerge in these areas. |
Outlook | The initiative will give a boost to South Korea's migration to 4G and help Ericsson establish itself as a leading player in South Korea's next-generation telecoms equipment market. |
Ericsson and South Korea have initiated a collaboration aiming to use mobile broadband and other communication technologies, such as machine to machine (m2m), to create a green eco-system, according to a statement issued by Ericsson. The two parties have identified mobile broadband and IT technologies as key enablers to create a green eco-system that will result in more sustainable society and therefore have decided to join in their efforts, said the statement. As part of this eco-system, Ericsson, together with leading Korean companies, will establish a community for the development of sustainable climate solutions based on 4G technologies and, given mutual success, will further expand its presence in the market, said the Swedish telecoms equipment giant. Furthermore, Ericsson has announced it will invest in a new research and development centre in South Korea and increase its staff to about 1,000 from the current 80, as part of the company's plan to expand collaboration with South Korea on 4G mobile technology. The company plans to invest approximately US$1.5 billion in South Korea in the next five years. The plans were announced during South Korean president Lee Myung-bak's visit to Sweden and at his meeting with Ericsson CEO-elect Hans Vestberg yesterday.
Outlook and Implications
- Initiatives on 4G Technology Development: Ericsson is thriving to establish itself as a leader in the development of 4G technologies and green technologies, in order to secure business opportunities to be emerged in these areas. The world's largest telecom equipment vendor by sales has already been involved with some of the pioneering 4G deployment projects. Most notably, Ericsson and TeliaSonera earlier this year unveiled what it claimed as the world's first commercial long-term evolution (LTE) site in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of a commercial network scheduled to go live in 2010 (see Sweden: 26 May 2009: TeliaSonera Claims Europe's First Commercial LTE Site). In partnership with China's Datang Telecom, a key developer of China's 3G mobile technology TD-SCDMA, Ericsson has also set up a research centre for 4G mobile technology in Beijing, China, to develop LTE/TDD, or long-term evolution of TD-SCDMA technology.
- 4G Market Potential in South Korea: South Korea, one of the world's most advanced telecoms markets, will provide sufficient regulatory support and operator cooperation for creating a 4G-based eco-system. With both mobile and household broadband penetration levels having exceeded 90%, the Korean telecoms industry is moving rapidly towards service convergence (of fixed and mobile, as well as telecoms and media) and next-generation network (NGN) technologies (see South Korea: 2 February 2009: South Korea Outlines NGN Plans and South Korea: 13 January 2009: Government in South Korea Drives Telecoms and Media Convergence). In terms of technology deployment, mobile broadband services based on various technologies are available to consumers: W-CDMA/HSDPA offered by SK Telecom and KT, CDMA 2000 1X EV-DO Rev. A. offered by LG Telecom, as well as WiBro (the Korean version of WiMAX) offered by KT and SK Telecom in selected areas of the country. Since no concrete plans of LTE deployment has been announced by any of the Korean operators so far, the collaboration with Ericsson will give a boost to the country's migration to 4G.