January 15, 2010 | During 2010, TeliaSonera expects to offer its customers 4G coverage in the 25 largest municipalities in Sweden alongside the four largest municipalities in Norway, including Oslo. Ericsson has been selected as the sole supplier of the common core network as well as providing LTE radio access.

The Nordic region has had a tradition of being at the forefront of telecommunications development. With TeliaSonera's 4G/LTE, this region is again in the lead. TeliaSonera now offers the consumers a next generation broadband network with wireless access to interactive and capacity-demanding services such as real-time web, online gaming, social media collaboration and video conferencing.

Lars Klasson, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Business Area Mobility Services at TeliaSonera, says: "We have chosen Ericsson to deliver TeliaSonera's 4G core network and further radio network rollout in Sweden and Norway based on their high quality technology and competitive offer. Our customers are the first in the world to use commercial 4G services. The use of mobile broadband in the Nordic is exploding and we offer 4G to meet the demand for high speed and capacity"

Mikael Bäckström, President Ericsson Nordic and Baltics, says: "As we move into next generation mobile networks with increased data traffic, securing network quality will be vital. We have delivered our latest solutions and gained TeliaSonera's confidence in our ability to provide leading technology and services. We will work just as hard to secure a smooth rollout and support TeliaSonera in introducing new consumer services."

Supplied by Ericsson, TeliaSonera recently launched the world's first and largest LTE service in Stockholm.  Ericsson has signed commercial LTE contracts with four major operators to date, including Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS  in the US, NTT DoCoMo in Japan and TeliaSonera in Sweden.

LTE, the next generation of mobile communication technology, enables the fast transfer of huge amounts of data in an efficient and cost-effective way, optimizing the use of the frequency spectrum. With increased speed and decreased latency, consumers can enjoy whatever service is available online (real-time web, online gaming, social media collaboration and video conferencing) effortlessly and while on the move. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced internet applications of the future.

Ericsson continues to pioneer wireless technology and is leading the development of LTE. Together with NTT DoCoMo, Ericsson initiated LTE standardization at the international standardization body 3GPP in 2004, and has made the largest amount of approved contributions to the group. Ericsson also expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry.