//

Ericsson Press Releases

ERICSSON AND TELIA PUT INNOVATIVE GSM BASE STATION SOLUTION TO THE
TEST

Date: Jun 30, 1998

- Maxite (TM) goes live in GSM 1800 Mhz field trials

Ericsson and Nordic network operator Telia have for the first time
introduced the Maxite base station solution into live service in
the 1800 MHz frequency band in Telia's GSM network in Sweden.

Two Maxite sites were brought on line in June as part of a rigorous,

advanced field trial of the innovative radio site solution. Ericsson
and Telia will work closely together through the summer on the field
trials, which will among other observations measure the radio
performance and evaluate Maxite's overall performance in comparison
to that of traditional macro sites.

Maxite consists of the RBS 2302, one of the smallest GSM

two-transceiver micro radio base stations available, combined with
an active antenna unit and a power and battery cabinet. Maxite
offers operators fast roll out time and highly effective coverage
with a number of cost-saving advantages.

"We put Maxite into live service following its outstanding

performance during recent acceptance demonstrations, a series of
test situations which we set up together with Telia," says Bengt
Dahlberg, Maxite field trial project leader at Ericsson Radio
Systems.

"Almost the moment the sites were switched on, they began carrying
actual customer traffic," adds Dahlberg. "The sites are performing
flawlessly."

"Sweden has a very developed and competitive mobile market that is

continuing to grow," says Torbj=F6rn J=E4mte, base station system expert
at Telia, the largest of three GSM operators in the country. "We
naturally put very high demands on base station performance. Fast
roll-out, simpler site selection and cost-effective coverage are all
keys to growth. Ericsson promises a lot with Maxite, and from what
we see so far, justifiably so."

Maxite from Ericsson is a micro base station solution that gives

macro cell coverage. The active antenna is the key component in
Maxite. It has integrated power amplifiers for downlink as well as
low noise amplifiers for uplink, optimizing coverage performance.
The power and battery cabinet adds up to two hours back-up time to
the complete site. Maxite actually provides 300 percent more
coverage than a traditional micro base station without active
antenna; and up to 65 percent reduction in size, weight and power
consumption and around 25 percent reduction in roll-out time,
compared with current macro cell base stations.

Telia is the leading supplier of telecom-based information services

in the Nordic/Baltic region. At the same time, "seamless"
pan-European and global services are being realized through powerful
alliances and partnerships in Europe and around the world. Annual
turnover 1995 reached 46,444 MSEK and the number of employees
amounted to approximately 32,500.

GSM is the world's most widely deployed digital wireless

communications standard. Ericsson is the market leader in GSM
worldwide, with almost half of the world's 98 million GSM
subscribers connected by Ericsson systems. Nearly 120 network
operators in some 65 countries around the world rely on Ericsson GSM
systems.

Ericsson's 100,000 employees are active in more than 130 countries.

Their combined expertise in fixed and mobile networks, mobile phones
and infocom systems makes Ericsson a world-leading supplier in
telecommunications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Oskar Lampel, Product Manager, Maxite (TM)

Ericsson Radio Systems
Tel. +46 8 404 4305 or Fax +46 8 757 0410

Torbj=F6rn J=E4mte, Base Station System Expert

Telia Mobile
Tel. +46 8 601 7428

Johan Wiklund, Press Relations Manager,

Ericsson Business Area Mobile Systems
Tel. +46 70 560 0134 or +46 8 404 2225

Auto-processed by EriPressHandler