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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN -- (Marketwire) -- 02/25/13 --

* New solutions for Networked Society focus on superior network qualityand performance, improved end-customer experience, and operationalexcellence

* Vestberg predicts growing subscriptions for LTE; smartphone shipmentsto exceed 50%; and mobile internet users will exceed fixed internet users

* Announced partnership with SAP to bring cloud-based machine-to-machine solutions via operators to huge mobile enterprise market

At Mobile World Congress 2013, held in Barcelona February 25-28, Ericsson(NASDAQ: ERIC) presents a full picture of new products, services andsolutionsto support its customers in network evolution, process transformation andinnovation and capturing growth opportunities.

During its annual press conference at Mobile World Congress, President andCEOHans Vestberg said: "Our heritage has been to lead the industry through itstechnology and business transformations. Our journey has taken us withcustomersfrom fixed to mobile, then bringing services, and now extending to processtransformation across other industries."

A new partnership with enterprise software powerhouse SAP was announced.The twocompanies will jointly market and sell cloud-based, machine-to-machine(M2M)solutions and services to enterprises via operators around the globe. Thesolutions will be based on a combined software-as-a-service (SaaS) offeringfromEricsson and SAP within M2M.

Better connectivity and consumer demands are together driving continuousinnovation in the industry. Vestberg identified main trends for 2013 thatadd upto more possibilities everywhere with increased intelligence in devices,alongwith the drive to transform networks, processes, and OSS and BSS systems.At thefoundation is a continued desire from consumers for superior networkquality andperformance.

"By the end of 2013, more than 50% of phone shipments will be smartphones,driven by more affordable models," predicted Vestberg, noting that usersappreciate having apps and data seamlessly available on multiple devices.Thecross-communication between machines, people, and content is changing theway weas humans behave, and the way service providers do business. Vestbergforeseesthat the industry will see more pricing models - tiered, shared, andbundled, aswell as further expansion into digital services to find new revenues.

"As we have the internet in our pockets, our virtual and real worlds arecomingtogether. Online interaction enriches our living, working and entertainmentandbreaks down barriers of time and place. By the end of 2013, there will bemoremobile internet users than fixed internet users," he said, adding anotherprediction that 2013 will be the year LTE subscriptions exceed 100 million.

With its high speed and capacity, an LTE network can enable delivery ofhigh-quality content, especially video, without buffering. The launch ofLTEBroadcast is Ericsson's new offering for operators and their media partnerstocapture new revenues, by providing premium services with guaranteed qualityandcost-efficient delivery over LTE. Vestberg announced during the pressconferencethat Verizon Wireless and Telstra are already signed on with the solution.