Ericsson has been active in Africa since it started providing fixed-line infrastructure in the 1890s. Today, it is a leading supplier of telecommunications equipment and services to mobile and fixed network operators in sub-Saharan Africa. Ericsson's market unit sub-Saharan Africa (MUSA) covers 43 countries with a combined population of some 610 million people, counts close to 60 mobile and over 20 fixed-operators in sub-Saharan Africa as customers, and has more than 50 percent market share in the GSM space.

Ericsson’s office in Woodmead, Johannesburg is the head office for this market unit and is supported by regional hubs in Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal as well as smaller offices in Botswana, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon, Madagascar and Ghana.

Ericsson’s involvement in the region spans the full spectrum of telecoms, from infrastructure to value-added services. One of the company’s main objectives is to establish a leading position in the emerging mobile datacoms market by driving the development of third-generation mobile networks, which will put the Internet within the reach of many Africans for the first time.

With the licensing of cellular telephony in South Africa in early 1994, Ericsson achieved immediate success as the sole supplier of GSM network infrastructure to MTN South Africa. Since then, Ericsson has fanned out into the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and has played a key role in the growth of Africa’s GSM mobile telecom market.

February 2006 saw the integration of Marconi Communications South Africa into the Ericsson organisation, following Ericsson’s international acquisition of Marconi’s telecom equipment and international services businesses. Since then, Ericsson has made four more international strategic acquisitions that have strengthened its market position in next-generation all-IP networking, high-capacity broadband access and IP messaging. The purchase of Redback Networks further cements Ericsson’s technological leadership in the area of all-IP networking, while the acquisition of passive optical networking company, Entrisphere, has enabled Ericsson to meet growing demands for high-capacity networks through deep-fibre broadband access. Ericsson’s acquisition of IP messaging leader, Mobeon AB, will increase the pace of development for its messaging architecture, allowing easier integration of new applications, and with the most recent addition of Tandberg Television, Ericsson can now offer customers complete IPTV solutions.

Ericsson is focussed on employing and developing local resources and competence in the countries where it does business. In fact, Ericsson’s Market Unit sub-Saharan Africa currently employs 790+ full-time employees and around 340 contractors.

Ericsson South Africa also has a strong black economic empowerment profile, with 8 Mile Investments 516 (Proprietary) Limited owning 20 percent plus 1 share (20.01%) of the equity in the South African operation and the Bikitsha Trust a five percent share, thus bringing the BEE shareholding up to 25.01%.

For more information visit: www.ericsson.com