Ericsson to Invest $1.5 Billion in South Korea

Ericsson AB, the world’s largest maker of wireless networks, plans to invest $1.5 billion in South Korea over the next five years.
The company will set up a research center in the Asian nation to develop environmentally friendly and so-called fourth- generation wireless technologies, Chief Executive Officer Carl- Henric Svanberg said in a meeting in Stockholm with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, according to an e-mailed statement today from the presidential Blue House.
Stockholm-based Ericsson also plans to increase the number of employees at its South Korean unit to 1,000 from 80, the statement said.
Lee, who is visiting Sweden from July 11 to 13, said South Korea’s government is determined to provide a level playing field for foreign businesses to compete with local rivals, according to the presidential office.
The investment is expected to help boost South Korea’s competitiveness in the market for long-term evolution, or LTE, high-speed wireless technology, backed by Ericsson, the statement said. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are also opting for the standard.
Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile-phone company, aims to begin offering a high-speed network in all U.S. regions by 2015 using LTE, which is scheduled to reach 30 markets by next year.
LG Electronics Inc., Asia’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, said in December it developed a faster wireless chip used in mobile phones based on the technology. The LTE market will be bigger than that of the rival WiMax technology, Skott Ahn, president of LG’s mobile-phone business, said at the time.
Samsung Backs WiMax
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-largest mobile- phone maker, said last month it expects to increase network- equipment sales as more operators begin deploying the mobile WiMax wireless high-speed Internet service.
The Suwon, South Korea-based company has a share of about 35 percent of the mobile WiMax-equipment market, Executive Vice President Kim Woon Sub, who heads Samsung’s network business, said in a June 24 interview.
WiMax is competing with LTE to replace third-generation technology.
“Mobile WiMax will outpace LTE over the next few years due to its head start on deployments,” researcher In-Stat said in February. “Mobile WiMax already has commercial deployments, while LTE won’t be commercially available until late 2009.”