Ericsson outlines strategy for its multimedia business

• Focus on OSS/BSS, TV & Media and M-Commerce
• Leading player in OSS/BSS market through the Telcordia acquisition with key position in service fulfillment, assurance, network optimization and real-time charging
• Renaming of Business Unit Multimedia to Business Unit Support Solutions

Mobilk - Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) today announced that it strengthens its multimedia business with focus on Operations Support Systems/Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS), TV & Media and M-Commerce. 

Per Borgklint, Head of Ericsson’s Business Unit Support Solutions, said: “With the new strategic focus, we will strengthen our leadership as we build on our installed base and competence. We will capture the growth momentum in the selected areas and leverage on our acquisition of Telcordia. We already have a leading position in key areas such as charging and billing, where we serve 1.6 billion people with our solutions.

“The new name Business Unit Support Solutions reinforces our commitment to support our customers’ business growth through value creating solutions for customer experience, content management and delivery and mobile payments.”

OSS/BSS – With the increased need for operators to rapidly respond to changing consumer demands and the need for increased efficiency and innovation, Operations and Business Support Systems is a key element of any operator’s network and business strategy. 

With the completion of the Telcordia acquisition that was announced on January 12, 2012, Ericsson consolidates its position as a leading player in the OSS/BSS market with key positions in service fulfillment, assurance, network optimization and real-time charging, as well as significant capabilities to support operators end-to-end.

TV & Media – Within five years, 90% of the network traffic will be video content. In TV and media, Ericsson’s commitment to enabling operators and content owners to monetize video content through truly blended, multi-screen TV services remains. As the increase in global broadband connectivity enables consumption of more video content on more devices, the challenges and opportunities in this growth sector continue.

M-Commerce – Ericsson predicts the m-commerce industry to process more than USD 800 billion globally by 2016. In this market Ericsson’s ambition remains unchanged; to accelerate access and interconnection between the m-commerce eco-system and the existing financial world. Ericsson’s evolved M-Commerce strategy reflects the understanding that a focus on fast-tracking access to the eco-system rather than scaling an Ericsson branded consumer service is the most effective way to bring our experience as a technology enabler to our partners. In line with this strategic evolution, on April 3, 2012, Ericsson will close its consumer Money Service.

In this way Ericsson can offer its eco-system partners a faster route to provide their consumers with more m-wallet and platform independent services and greater payments choice.

Borgklint continues: “1.6 billion subscribers are served by Ericsson’s charging and billing solutions. Our new solution Ericsson Converged Wallet allows telecom service providers to easily offer pre-paid customers m-wallets accounts. We believe our M-Commerce strategy will equip our partners – operators, financial institutions, online entertainment companies or merchants – to optimize all the opportunities this predicted market growth will offer with their consumers.”