LTE to bring fixed-WIRELESS broadband to rural Australia

• Ericsson to provide and manage LTE network for fixed-wireless broadband in rural and regional Australia for the National Broadband Network (NBN)

• Rural and regional households to start accessing broadband from mid 2012, with completion of the network by 2015

• AUD 1 billion agreement forms part of Australian Government’s complete nationwide high-speed broadband network project NBN Co – established by the Australian Government in 2009 to design, build and operate the national broadband network – has appointed Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) to build and operate a 2.3GHz fixed-wireless broadband network based on LTE technology.

It will serve rural Australia with download speeds of up to 12Mbps and upload speeds reaching 1Mbps, representing a significant improvement compared to existing broadband services. The decision is in line with the Australian Government’s vision to develop a high-speed broadband network that is available to the whole population and part of a AUD 36 billion (USD 38 billion) national infrastructure investment.