Ericsson to Set Up New Global Service Delivery Center in Romania

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announced yesterday it plans to open a new Global Service Delivery Center in Bucharest, in July 2007. Ericsson"s Global Services business is growing, leading to the establishment of the new Global Service Delivery Center (GSDC) in Bucharest. The services business depends on people and the business growth is increasing the need for resources.

Initially, the center will employ 200 engineers, most of whom will be young Romanian engineers. Romania provides high-quality education, with a large number of universities and graduates assisting the recruitment of engineers.

Hans Vestberg, Executive Vice President and Head of Ericsson"s Business Unit Global Services, says: "The opening of the new GSDC in Romania further proves Ericsson"s ambition to grow and develop the services area, as well as our delivery capabilities. "We use our global structure, which includes local capabilities and expertise. This, in combination with our global tools, methods and processes, enables us to offer our customers cost-efficient support, development and delivery, which is an important competitive advantage."

The new GSDC will operate in conjunction with existing global and local delivery centers, and will also ensure timely and cost-efficient delivery to global and local customers. Fredrik T. Strand, Vice President and Head of Service Delivery at Business Unit Global Services, says: "The increase in the services business and the new needs we are seeing within, for example, managed operations in IT management, application development and support areas are the main reasons for opening a new GSDC in Bucharest."

Ericsson"s services organization today employs about 24,000 professionals worldwide. About 6500 of these employees work in GSDCs. With the new center in Romania Ericsson will have 20 GSDCs designed to ensure business readiness for the global market. The region also includes a center in Italy, with about 550 employees. Ericsson has a strong presence in Southeastern Europe, being a major supplier of fixed and mobile networks, as well as telecom services, to more than 40 customers in 11 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia.