Ericsson to invest $100 mn a year

Ericsson committed $100 million annually in India for the years to come as the country was an important market for them.

Swedish telecom equipment giant, Ericsson, on Tuesday committed $100 million annually in India for the years to come as the country was an important market for them with potential.

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When asked about company's roadmap and future investments in India, Ercisson India's country head Mats Granyrd said "we are committing an investment of 100 million dollars every year and we shall continue to do so as long as we are getting returns on our investment."

"We view India as one of the very potential market for telecom services, be it mobile or wireline broadband and this may continue for some more years," Granyrd said while announcing roll out of one million wireline broadband lines in India.

Both in the GSM mobile arena as well as rolling out wireline broadband infrastructure Ericsson has a substantial market share with claims of about 40 per cent.

Ericsson's future plans would be offering platform for tripple play by telecom operators enabling them to offer voice, broadband and video (cable) on a single line and also live broadcast feed on mobile phones.

The company is in talks with various operators including state owned MTNL, Bharti and VSNL.

"We are delighted to be partnering with wireline and wireless telecom service providers to usher in the broadband revolution in India. The one million mark in wireline broadband is an important step in Ericsson's vision of Broadband Everywhere. This stems from a belief that broadband is a key enabler in the social and economic development of a country," Granyrd said.

Since the begining of last year, there has been a 17-fold increase in broadband subscribers, as per estimates of the Telecom regulator TRAI.