Home arrow 3G/4G Industry News arrow Ericsson and Motorola Solutions Enter Alliance to Provide LTE Solutions for Public Safety
Ericsson and Motorola Solutions Enter Alliance to Provide LTE Solutions for Public Safety
www.ericsson.com

Ericsson and Motorola have teamed up to provide LTE solutions to the public safety market. Under the terms of the deal, Ericsson will provide LTE equipment, including packet core and related services, for Motorola Solutions' public-safety-optimized LTE core. Motorola also will supply devices, video security and command and control solutions for first responders.

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC ) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT ) forged an alliance to deliver LTE solutions to first responders. The two companies will try to bring their expertise to bear on the nascent public-safety LTE market.

Under the deal, Ericsson will provide LTE equipment--including packet core and related services--and combine that with Motorola Solutions' public-safety-optimized LTE core. Motorola also will provide devices, video security and command and control solutions for first responders. The two vendors did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Motorola has taken a lead in the U.S. in delivering public-safety mobile broadband solutions. In July the company won a contract for the first phase of a private 700 MHz LTE network buildout for first responders in the San Francisco Bay Area. Motorola received a $50.6 million federal broadband stimulus award to help build the network.

Despite the growing market for regional LTE networks for first responders, there is a still a logjam over how best to create a nationwide, interoperable public-safety broadband network using the D Block of the 700 MHz band. Public-safety groups are pressing Congress to allocate the spectrum directly to first responders, while the FCC is still advocating a re-auction of the spectrum. Still, advances are being made. Last week, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU ) said it completed what the vendor said was the first data call using an LTE network operating on the 700 MHz spectrum reserved for public-safety use in the U.S.

In other Ericsson news, the company acquired certain assets of inCode's Strategy and Technology Group for an undisclosed sum. Ericsson is getting 45 employees in the deal with the IT consulting company. InCode was bought by VeriSign in 2006 but became independent again in 2008 via a management buyout.
For more:

Public safety and mobile broadband leaders to deliver industry leading solution

  • Unified platform will provide advanced capabilities demanded by public safety
  • LTE to allow real time information sharing between command center and devices

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and the Motorola Solutions business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), demonstrate continued leadership in advancing the Public Safety communications. An industry leading LTE-based solution for public safety mobile broadband will interoperate with mission critical voice and data to unify the delivery of high-performing voice and broadband multimedia applications. 
This agreement partners the world leader in telecommunications technology and services with the world leader in mission critical public safety communications.

LTE mobile broadband technology will allow Motorola's unified next generation platform to provide the advanced communications capabilities demanded by public safety with real-time information sharing between an integrated multimedia command center and field forces, through a collaborative portfolio of rugged radios, in-vehicle terminals and handheld LTE data devices.

As the world's leader in mobile broadband, including LTE, Ericsson will provide the benefit of global scale economies and proven performance across a large, globally deployed LTE base.

Combined with Motorola's public safety optimized LTE core and interoperability platform, Ericsson will provide its industry leading LTE access equipment as well as parts of its packet core and related services to deliver broadband multimedia services to public safety.  Motorola's advanced devices, video security and command and control solutions will leverage these platforms to offer public safety unprecedented situational collaboration and situational awareness.

"High speed mobile broadband and LTE based technology provide new opportunities for the public safety sector, says Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Radio networks at Ericsson. LTE enables a number of new applications and video communication from the site of accident to the communication central.  Improved situation awareness empowers efficient decisions, secure assets and property and may in the end, save lives".

 "Motorola is committed to innovating where it matters most for public safety to ensure that the end-to-end public safety solution is tailored and hardened to meet the strictest requirements of public safety missions," said Bob Schassler, senior vice president worldwide radio solutions. "As we implement our comprehensive next generation solutions, Ericsson will be a valuable partner for the delivery of LTE technology to our public safety customers."

Ericsson is the world's leader in telecommunications technology and services and is leading the way in the rollout of LTE. To date, Ericsson has signed commercial LTE contracts with six major global operators, three of which are in the United States, the world's fastest growing LTE market. Ericsson has been driving open standards and has had the highest impact on the released LTE specifications. Ericsson expects to hold 25 percent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry.
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, professional users can benefit from a wide range of applications (like video based content sharing) effortlessly and while on the move. LTE will meet the demands of new and enhanced mobile internet applications of the future.

Motorola is focusing extensive investment in resources and development to drive the critical innovations in the core, applications and devices necessary to serve the unique requirements of a public safety LTE broadband solution.  Additionally, Motorola will deliver the full spectrum of advanced services to the Public Safety community when it comes to design, implement, support, secure, and manage these LTE-based networks.  As part of Motorola's broader next generation public safety platform, LTE represents a necessary component for transforming the end-to-end public safety workflow, supplementing mission critical voice and data communications with advanced multimedia applications delivered to innovative public safety devices.

Notes to editors:
Ericsson's LTE achievements:
www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/facts_figures/lte_achievement.shtml

About Motorola Solutions next generation public safety solutions:
www.motorola.com/nextgen

Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices. 

Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 80,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 206.5 billion (USD 27.1 billion) in 2009. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.
www.ericsson.com  
www.twitter.com/ericssonpress
www.facebook.com/technologyforgood
www.youtube.com/ericssonpress