Canada’s largest family owned and operated telecommunications company Eastlink will use Ericsson's voice over LTE technology to provide better services and lay the foundation for Wi-Fi calling and future 5G services.
Ericsson has also signed a 10-year Energy Infrastructure Management agreement with Crnogorski Telekom, Montenegro’s leading telecommunications service provider and a member of the Deutsche Telekom Group.
In a statement, Eastlink said it would deploy the Ericsson Fast VoLTE solution, an integrated virtual IP Multimedia Subsystem solution that makes rapid deployment and scaling possible. It supports high-definition voice and other communication services over LTE and Wi-Fi access networks.
Lee Bragg, chief executive, Eastlink, said, “We operate with an overarching philosophy of continuous improvement through investment in our people, our networks, our services, and in advanced technologies.
"Partnerships, like the longstanding one we have with Ericsson, make it possible for us to leverage the very best expertise and technology to help bring our customers an exceptional and continuously improved experience.”
{loadposition sam08}Graham Osborne, head of Ericsson Canada, said: “Telecom operators are looking for cost-effective solutions to manage the ever-increasing volume of mobile traffic and demand for enhanced services.
"Eastlink is dedicated to delivering the best experience possible to all their customers and this network upgrade will bring immediate improvements and position them well to add future services.”
Eastlink said it would work with Ericsson to deploy a geo-redundant and 5G-ready core network, ensuring robust and reliable services.
Ericsson will also modernise customer and front-end databases, such as the Home Location Register and Home Subscriber Service.
The upgrade is expected to be completed during the second half of 2018.
The Ericsson Fast VoLTE solution includes products such as virtual Mobile Telephony Application Server, virtual Session Border Controller, virtual Call Session Control Function, virtual Message Resource Function and virtual IPWorks.
It is built on Ericsson BSP 8100 telecom grade hardware and the OpenStack-based virtual infrastructure manager Ericsson Cloud Execution Environment.
Under the contract with Crnogorski Telekom, Ericsson will assume responsibility for the design, rollout and management of lithium-ion battery and power infrastructure solutions for the operator’s cell sites. It will provide these services via an Energy Network Operations Centre, Panasonic, Ericsson’s partner, will handle the manufacturing, supply, asset ownership, dimensioning, 10-year performance service-level agreements and support for battery and power infrastructure.
Valentina Radulovic, technology director from Crnogorski Telekom, said: “We are pleased to announce the signing of the Energy Infrastructure Management agreement with Ericsson. This is another sustainable solution which we decided to implement in order to further reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. As the technology leader in the Montenegrin market, we will continue with sustainable innovations that will result in a more efficient, reliable and powerful network for our customers.”
Philip Herman, vice-president Green Tower Solutions at Panasonic Enterprise Solutions, said: “Energy Infrastructure Management minimises energy consumption and total cost of ownership while maximising system resilience and connectivity uptime, which is why we like to think of this offering as ‘energy-functions optimisation’.
"We’re combining Panasonic’s expertise in energy solutions with Ericsson’s strength in telecommunications, and the result is networks that are smarter, more efficient and more sustainable. Our batteries’ high energy density, high voltage, lack of memory effect, and flat discharge voltage make for a very stable power supply.”
Peter Laurin, head of Managed Services at Ericsson, said: “Together with Panasonic, we will reduce the cost of energy equipment ownership for targeted Crnogorski Telekom sites by up to 40%. This is primarily a result of Ericsson’s advanced power source selection logic, extended battery life-cycles, and the reduced need for site visits. Our offering is based on an as-a-service business model, which provides Crnogorski Telekom with immediate savings with minimal upfront investment. Energy typically accounts for anything from 10 to 60 percent of an operator’s operational expenditure.”