Chinese New Year Could Set Text Message Record

USA - English

• USA - English

    STOCKHOLM, February 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
    - 18 Billion SMSs Sent Last Chinese New Year
    - Demands on Network Increasing
    - Consumers Expect Perfect Performance on Network

The short text message has become a popular way for friends and families to keep in touch during holidays. In Sweden alone, 32 million SMSs were sent on one network during Western New Year 2009-10, which corresponds to nine SMSs per subscriber. During the Chinese New Year holiday on February 14, telecoms experts predict that up to 19 billion SMSs will be sent.

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Another peak record was set during the broadcast of American Idol in the US, 2009, when 178 million SMSs were sent.

SMS numbers worldwide are expected to reach 2.3 trillion in 2010, according to Gartner.

Network maintenance and support is highly important during peak times, and SMS is complicated in that a short message must cross different networks, and involves various operator billing and charging systems, and all types of mobile phones.

Ericsson supports networks that serve more than two billion people. Eva Elmstedt, head of Customer Support at Ericsson, says: "Keeping our phones, computers and other devices connected is regarded as a basic human need."

Notes to editors:

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.

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SOURCE Ericsson