2017-03-31

Following the United States Federal Communications Commission’s completion of the final phase of its incentive auction, operators will be able to provide service in the 600 MHz band. The Ericsson 600 MHz suite of products will be ready for commercial development within months.

• The FCC has provisionally awarded assignments of 600 MHz spectrum to winning bidders

• Ericsson's 600 MHz solutions enable operators to meet their aggressive timelines for commercial deployment in the repurposed spectrum

• Operators can extend and enhance coverage by using these low-band frequencies

Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) 600 MHz suite of products will be ready for commercial deployment by Q3 2017, providing operators the ability to quickly launch services in their new 600 MHz spectrum holdings.

The news follows the FCC's completion of the final phase of its incentive auction, which repurposed spectrum for wireless broadband services. As a result, operators will receive access to spectrum to provide service in the 600 MHz band.

The new 600 MHz low-band spectrum allows operators to extend and enhance coverage by utilizing low band radio wave propagation. For example, in rural areas more coverage can be provided per cell site, which drastically improves economics. This enables a more competitive and ultimately a better choice of wireless service for customers.

Glenn Laxdal, Head of Network Products, Ericsson North America, says: "The FCC's first-of-its-kind Incentive Auction provides guidance to other countries wishing to repurpose spectrum. The quick deployment of service in the 600 MHz spectrum will help improve the coverage footprint, increase data speeds and enable continued industry growth."

Ericsson's 600 MHz products maximize low-band spectral efficiency through advanced MIMO capabilities. The 600 MHz products are based on Ericsson's 4478 radio platform, which was introduced at the recent Mobile World Congress.

Ericsson is present today in all high traffic LTE markets including US, Japan, and South Korea, and is ranked first for handling the most global LTE traffic. More than 270 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered by Ericsson worldwide, of which more than 200 are live commercially.

Glenn Laxdal

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