Ericsson Expands Indosat's WCDMA/HSPA Network in Indonesia

Ericsson announced it has been awarded a contract by Indosat to expand the mobile operator's WCDMA/HSPA network in greater Jakarta, Indonesia. Under the agreement, Ericsson will supply the radio access network and the necessary transmission equipment and will also be responsible with the deployment and improvement of the network.

Following the completion of the project, Indosat customers in Jakarta and its surroundings will benefit from a wider coverage area as well as from faster wireless access speeds. The enhanced speeds will enable Indosat to offer new attractive mobile broadband services to its users, as the operator is pursuing its development strategy of reaching higher data speeds of up to 14.4Mbps for the downlink and 1.8Mbps for the uplink by the end of 2007.

"Increasing our coverage and speed is crucial to Indosat's strategy for mobile broadband growth, in line with our rapid-business-growth plan. Thus, we need to have a partner who can meet these challenges and we believe Ericsson is the right partner to support us in providing the latest mobile broadband services to our customers in Greater Jakarta." said Johnny Swandi Sjam, President Director of Indosat.

The current agreement is an expansion of a previous contract awarded to Ericsson in 2006. Ericsson is the supplier of Indosat's GSM and WCDMA/HSPA mobile core network, including the Mobile Softswitch Solution and Packet Core, which are the foundation of the operator's network. As part of the newly announced deal, Ericsson will also upgrade Indosat's current WCDMA radio network to be IP-ready, paving the way for Indosat to make the transition to an all-IP network. This will allow the operator to rapidly and cost-efficiently increase network capacity and coverage.

"Ericsson is pleased to be awarded with this expansion contract, it's further evidence of our performance as a reliable business partner. Ericsson is committed to supporting Indosat in bringing faster mobile broadband and other multimedia services to the country," said Bengt Thornberg, President, Ericsson Indonesia. "This expansion contract further highlights our leading position in WCDMA/HSPA."