C&W Communications expands network with Ericsson across Caribbean and Panama
C&W’s customers to enjoy best-in-class high speed, high performance network to address increasing data traffic demands
Expansion is currently underway and expected to be completed in November 2016
Radio Access Network (RAN) and Core expansion includes both 3G and Long-Term Evolution (LTE), plus indoor coverage based on Ericsson Radio Dot System
MIAMI, FL – October 13, 2016 – Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and C&W Communications (C&W)—one of the largest full service communications and entertainment providers in the Caribbean and Latin American region, now part of Liberty Global (LiLAC Group)—today announce the delivery of a complete network expansion for C&W across their operations in the Caribbean and Panama. The expansion includes hardware, software, licensing and services for C&W brands FLOW (Caribbean), BTC (Bahamas) and CWP (Panama).
In addition, C&W’s network expansion will provide all C&W markets across the Caribbean and Panama access to software upgrades and the opportunity to migrate to the Ericsson Software Model, which provides operators with the best available performance through a simple and transparent upgrade subscription. With 3G and LTE, C&W customers will benefit from a network capable of supporting advanced technologies and other high-speed features designed to provide a better user experience.
“Ericsson is committed to providing C&W Communications with excellence in end-user satisfaction and delivering best-in-class results. In the journey that we envision undertaking with C&W, Ericsson will provide solid guidance and support throughout all of the project’s critical phases, enabling C&W to provide its customers with the best in mobile connectivity solutions,” said Clayton Cruz, Vice-president, Ericsson Latin America and Caribbean.
“We are happy to once again partner with Ericsson in this network expansion project across all of our markets. Considering the clear trend in the growth of subscribers, mobile data and smartphone usage, C&W’s key objective is to deploy a mobile network with world-class quality, performance and operational convenience in order to exceed our customers’ expectations,” said Carlo Alloni, Executive Vice-president and CTIO, C&W Communications.
According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, by 2021, smartphone subscriptions in Latin America and the Caribbean will comprise 65% of all mobile subscriptions; LTE will account for approximately 30% of all mobile subscriptions, representing more than 250 million mobile subscriptions. In addition, mobile data traffic is expected to grow nine times in the region by 2021, reaching 75% of all mobile traffic.
To meet these increasing traffic demands, C&W’s network expansion increases site capacity, improves the performance of the existing network through hardware and software upgrades, facilitates the implementation of carrier aggregation, and allows for the addition of small cells. The expansion is currently underway and expected to be completed in November 2016.
Ericsson is present today in all high-traffic LTE markets, including the US, Japan and South Korea, and handles the most global LTE traffic. In addition, 40 percent of the world’s total mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. More than 270 LTE RAN and Evolved Packet Core networks have been delivered by Ericsson worldwide, of which 200 are live commercially.
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society – a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future.
Our services, software and infrastructure – especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud – are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
With approximately 115,000 professionals and customers in 180 countries, we combine global scale with technology and services leadership. We support networks that connect more than 2.5 billion subscribers. Forty percent of the world’s mobile traffic is carried over Ericsson networks. And our investments in research and development ensure that our solutions – and our customers – stay in front.
Founded in 1876, Ericsson has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Net sales in 2015 were SEK 246.9 billion (USD 29.4 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX stock exchange in Stockholm and the NASDAQ in New York.
Ericsson has been present in Latin America since 1896, when the company established an agreement in Colombia and delivered equipment for the first time in the region. In the early 1900s, Ericsson increased its presence in Latin America by signing commercial deals in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Today, Ericsson is present in 56 countries within South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, which combined count the region as one of the few with complete Ericsson installations, including a Production Unit, R&D Center and Training Center. Ericsson is the market leading telecom supplier, with over 40% market share in Latin America and more than 100 telecom service contracts in the region.