Ericsson and Akamai Establish Exclusive Strategic Alliance to Create Mobile Cloud Acceleration Solutions

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2011 --

• Addresses explosive growth in mobile data traffic, devices and cloud based applications
• Enables mobile operators to play bigger part in the mobile Internet value chain
• Jointly developed, end-to-end solutions to provide high-quality delivery of content and applications through mobile networks

Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM) announce today a exclusive strategic alliance focused on bringing to market mobile cloud acceleration solutions aimed at improving end-user Internet experiences such as mobile ecommerce, enterprise applications and Internet content.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100225/AKAMAILOGO )

The companies will jointly develop solutions for the fast-growing market of content and applications delivered to mobile devices. As leaders in their respective fields, Ericsson and Akamai bring together the power of mobile networks and the cloud to open new business opportunities for both operators and content providers by creating a new business model built around quality of experience and premium services.

This is the first time that Akamai's global delivery network is integrated into mobile networks in this way. Working with Ericsson, the content and applications already being accelerated over the Internet by Akamai will now also be accelerated over mobile broadband, giving a true end-to-end quality of experience.

Thomson Reuters (which participated in early prototype testing) is well-known for its market-leading mobile strategies. The company has stressed the importance of delivering consistent, fast and high-quality experiences on mobile devices in order to drive adoption and customer satisfaction.

Ericsson estimates that there will be almost 5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions by 2016. The company is also seeing an explosive growth in the Internet content and applications that people want to access on their mobile devices.  

The Ericsson and Akamai alliance creates for the first time, a truly integrated mobile Internet ecosystem designed to enable mobile network operators to be more involved in the Internet value chain, in turn helping them better monetize their networks and subscriber base. The solutions are also designed to greatly simplify how content providers distribute their content and gain access to larger audiences.

"The market is becoming increasingly mobile. As an example, advanced Smartphone devices will grow 4-5 times to 2016 and the generated traffic will grow about 30 times, so end-to-end quality of experience becomes key," says Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson. "Ericsson is the world leader in high-performance mobile broadband networks and Akamai handles hundreds of billions of daily Web interactions – this is truly a beneficial partnership for the entire mobile and content industries."

"Combining the power of Akamai's global network with Ericsson's industry expertise will allow the mobile industry to reinvent the way it works with content and application providers and will help end-users get the best possible experience when accessing the Web from their mobile devices," said David Kenny, President of Akamai.

A prototype of the mobile cloud acceleration solution will be showcased at the Ericsson Hall (Hall 6) during Mobile World Congress 2011, taking place in Barcelona 14-17 February.

Notes to editors:

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

About Ericsson

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 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

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About Akamai

Akamai® provides market-leading, cloud-based services for optimizing Web and mobile content and applications, online HD video, and secure e-commerce. Combining highly-distributed, energy-efficient computing with intelligent software, Akamai's global platform is transforming the cloud into a more viable place to inform, entertain, advertise, transact and collaborate. To learn how the world's leading enterprises are optimizing their business in the cloud, please visit www.akamai.com and follow @Akamai on Twitter.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by hackers or others, unexpected early termination of Akamai's relationship with Ericsson, failure of Akamai solutions to operate effectively with Ericsson solutions, failure of the market for the Ericsson-Akamai solutions to develop as expected, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.