Ericsson announced deals this week in two hot areas: China and green energy.
Yesterday, Ericsson said it has signed 2G and 3G framework agreements, together valued at $1.7 billion, with China Mobile and China Unicom. Today, the company announced a trial with Telecom Italia on solar-powered site development in the Italian city of L’Aquila, site of the G8 leaders meeting on climate change, among other topics.
Ericsson stock price didn’t move a lot on the news yesterday as some investors already factored the Chinese deals into the stock’s price, according to an Associated Press report. Ericsson has worked with the Chinese operators in the past, so further contracts weren’t unexpected.
China Mobile and China Unicom received 3G licenses for TD-SCDMA and WCDMA standards, respectively, at the beginning this year.
The deal with China Mobile includes green solutions to support China Mobile’s network energy optimization and CO2 emission reduction target. Ericsson will expand GSM/GPRS coverage and provide TD-SCDMA products and solutions.
For China Unicom, Ericsson will become the main supplier to upgrade its GSM networks in 10 provinces and provide GSM/WCDMA core network and/or wireless access systems in 15 provinces.
The trial with Telecom Italia involves the Eco-Smart solution, which can generate up to 100 percent of the energy required to power a site in the same land space as a traditional site.
Last month, Ericsson announced that CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg is leaving the company for British oil giant BP, with CFO Hans Vestberg to replace him as CEO at the end of this year.