Feb 27, 2012 - At this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), Polycom Inc., the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC), and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), will launch an end-to-end solution that enables operators to offer affordable, interoperable HD Video-as-a-Service (VaaS) and unified communication services to businesses of all sizes. The solution will be demonstrated at Ericsson stand in Hall 6 and Polycom stand 2D01 in Hall 2.  This solution will be jointly taken to market globally, with Ericsson serving as prime system integrator for all of the infrastructure components.

The new visual communication solution for service providers will leverage Ericsson's comprehensive video-enabled IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) offering, including HD-capable infrastructure, as well as Polycom® RealPresence(TM) video and voice endpoints and the RealPresence(TM) Platform- the most comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video collaboration.

The Ericsson IMS system provides significant synergies for operators by using the same IMS core for the Visual Communication solution as for Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Rich Communication Suite (RCS) and fixed network modernization. The new Ericsson Media Resource System will provide secure, high-quality HD video and full-band stereo audio conferencing to operators around the globe. Ericsson mobile media gateways are upgradeable to include the Media Resource System functions thereby securing operational savings for operators. In addition, the unique open-standards approach of the Polycom RealPresence Platform ensures interoperability with hundreds of UC, business, and social networking applications, bridging silos, and truly unifying communications across the enterprise.

The end-to-end cloud based offering will enable operators to enter or expand their operations with compelling new VaaS offerings across devices, with high reliability and scalability.  It will also incorporate Ericsson's solution for unified communication, the Ericsson Business Communication Suite, ensuring that operators will be able to penetrate new markets, increase revenue per subscriber, and effectively compete. For affordable monthly rates, SMBs and enterprises will have access to secure, QoS-enabled HD video and conferencing services delivered to any environment, including smart phones and tablets for those on the go, at home or at work with laptop, desktop and room systems, conference rooms and immersive theaters.

 "Today's announcement is another step toward our vision to make video collaboration ubiquitous. Following on the January announcement of our cloud strategy, Polycom is excited to collaborate with an IMS leader like Ericsson to deliver standards-based, interoperable solutions that will enable service providers to offer compelling and cost-effective Video-as-a-Service solutions to their customers," said Gary Testa, Vice President, Global Cloud & Service Provider Solutions, Polycom.  "We're showcasing our joint solution at this year's Mobile World Congress so service providers can see first-hand how the technology can build their business, win new customers, create new revenue streams, and enable their customers to connect visually in high-definition through the cloud."

Magnus Furustam, Vice President and Head of Core and IMS at Ericsson, said: "We have worked collaboratively with Polycom since announcing our partnership at last year's show, and are now pleased to launch and showcase our joint video conferencing solution for business users. With our leading market presence in IMS and mobile networks we provide a smooth path to enable the networks for HD visual and audio communication. We believe our solution to be very attractive to business users and an industry first with a very compelling value proposition to operators."

Customer trials of the joint solution will commence mid-2012, with general availability at the end of 2012.

In addition, Ericsson and Polycom will participate in an HD video conferencing demonstration with leading operators and equipment vendors at this year's MWC. For the demonstration, a common set of capabilities based on existing industry standards has been selected to provide an open solution for HD video conferencing services. Seamless inter-operator HD video conferencing calls between Telefónica's booth at MWC in Barcelona, an Orange site in France, a Telecom Italia site in Italy and a Deutsche Telekom site in Germany will be showcased.