Telecom Lead America: Eight regional wireless operators
in the United States and Guam have selected Ericsson for delivering LTE mobile
broadband networks in rural areas.
Operators who have recently selected Ericsson to build
their LTE networks include:
– Appalachian Wireless (Kentucky) – LTE network to cover
the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky
– Agri-Valley Communications (Michigan) – LTE network
will cover more than 70 percent of Michigan across the Lower and Upper
Peninsula of the state
– Bluegrass Cellular (Kentucky) – Will deploy Ericsson’s
LTE network to provide access to 4G data services to customers throughout the
central portion of the state.
– Enhanced Telecommunications Corp. (Indiana) – Will
offer LTE to customers for fixed broadband access, and deploy the Ericsson
Mobile Broadband Router as a home gateway
– Globecomm (New York) – Will provide Ericsson LTE Core
hosting services in addition to the Ericsson 2G and 3G hosted services already
connecting a number of rural and regional operators
– IT&E (Guam) – LTE network offering both fixed and
mobile services will cover the island of Guam, a territory of the United
States, located in the western Pacific Ocean
– South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority
(Georgia) – Regional IT company in southeast Georgia building LTE to reach
consumers and businesses with wireless broadband
– VTel Wireless (Vermont) – Will connect rural and
underserved communities across the state, as well as nearly 1,000 smart meter
collection points
“Ericsson has been a great partner for rural and
regional carriers, and I am delighted that Ericsson has again assisted eight
carriers in deploying LTE networks. Our members need solutions to find pathways
to 4G/LTE services, and thanks to the innovative work from companies like
Ericsson, competitive carriers can achieve this important goal,” said
Steven K. Berry, president & CEO of RCA – The Competitive Carriers
Association.
“We are moving from the information society to the
Networked Society, where the primary concern is not just having access to
information, but what benefit you get out of it,” said Craig Stein,
executive vice president, US Regions, Broadband & Media for Ericsson.
In 2010, Ericsson and Arthur D. Little concluded that for
every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration GDP increases by 1
percent. A follow up study in 2011 concerning the impact of broadband speed
upgrades on GDP, showed that doubling the broadband speed for an OECD economy
increases GDP growth by 0.3 percent.
The global LTE population coverage is 325 million, of
which 215 million are covered by Ericsson networks.