Ericsson bags LTE deal from Softbank Mobile

Ericsson has bagged its largest LTE contract in Japan from Softbank Mobile that will serve Japan's major cities home to more than half of the country's population.Ericsson will upgrade, expand and perform systems integration of Softbank Mobile 's existing packet core network to Evolved Packet Core.

The Ericsson network will cover Japan's major cities - Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya - which together account for 70 percent of the country's total data and voice traffic. Softbank Mobile is currently Japan's thid-largest mobile operator, with more than 29 million subscribers.

Ericsson will upgrade Softbank Mobile 's packet core network, including systems integration and deployment of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution, and build a new LTE radio access network using RBS 6000 multi-standard base stations. This will allow Softbank Mobile users to experience the best possible networks in one of the world's most densely populated areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.

"During 2012, many new smartphones, notebooks and tablets with LTE capabilities will be launched in Japan. This will lead to a strong increase in consumer demand for higher data speeds and throughput - a demand that Softbank Mobile will be able to meet thanks to the state-of-the-art LTE network that we will rapidly deploy," said Jan Signell, President, Ericsson- Japan.

"I am especially proud that Softbank Mobile has selected Ericsson to build this LTE network in its most dense service areas, where the consumers are most demanding."

Ericsson continues to drive open standards and has had the great influence on the LTE specifications released to date. Ericsson expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents related to LTE, which will make it the standard's largest single patent holder.