RI one of Ericsson's top markets, says CEO

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson celebrated its 100th year in Indonesia on Monday, with CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg reiterating the company's commitment to the country, which is one of Ericsson's ten largest markets.

The company itself was founded when Lars Magnus Ericsson opened a workshop in Stockholm in 1876, exactly the same year as Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in the U.S. Ericsson began his business repairing telegraph equipment, but later began manufacturing and selling his own telephone sets.

In the 1950s and 1960s, a lot of Ericsson-made telephones were sold in Indonesia. So many, in fact, that the brand name "Ericsson" became a generic name for the device.

Back in 1986, Ericsson helped introduce the first cellular mobile telephone service in Indonesia, when PT Rajasa Hazanah Perkasa began offering its wireless service based on the analog Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) standard.

Currently, through its subsidiary PT Ericsson Indonesia, the company supplies all three incumbent mobile operators -- Telkomsel, Indosat and Excelcomindo. It was also involved in the 3G WCDMA trials and rollouts.

Svanberg said that "Indonesia is our eighth largest customer in the world. Indonesia now even has the latest technologies in the world."

Following the success of 3G, the focus now is on wireless data access, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and the upcoming Long-Term Evolution (LTE), which should help expedite the penetration of the Internet around the country.

Bengt Thornberg, president director of Ericsson Indonesia, said that the company was also working to help make rural telephony a reality.

As one-third of the population is already benefiting from mobile wireless services, the company is now exploring ways to allow the other two-thirds to get connected.

"In rural areas, the biggest cost is the diesel fuel for the power generator. We are experimenting with solar panels to lower the cost so that even subscribers with very low incomes can still benefit from mobile telephony."

Ericsson provides network equipment, managed services, and IP and multimedia solutions. "At present, the sales of network equipment still make the biggest contribution to our revenues, followed by managed services," said Svanberg.

"Mobile multimedia is still in its infancy today. But we believe that in a few years this segment will grow rapidly as part of the mobile experience," he added.

Ericsson presently has 1,400 employees in Indonesia.