PRESS BACKGROUNDER
APRIL 7, 2016
ERICSSON CELEBRATES 140 YEARS
On April 1, 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson opened his mechanical engineering shop in a
modest 13-square-meter facility. From this small space, a multinational company grew that
today employs around 115,000 people, operates in 180 countries and holds 39,000 patents.
For 140 years, our ideas, technology and people have created monumental impact, and real
turning points that have transformed lives, industries and society as a whole.
Every now and then, there comes a ‘turning point,’ a moment in time when everything
changes. Ericsson’s story is full of turning points when we have lead transformation by
innovating and applying some of the most powerful technologies ever invented. Our main
turning points are:
•
1876 – Foundation of the company
In 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson founded Ericsson with the belief that communication satisfied
a deep human need. As innovative entrepreneurs with a passion for technology, Lars
Magnus and his wife Hilda worked together to establish the foundation for a company that
was to become a global leader in telecommunication systems and services. Within 5 years,
the company was already working on different continents. Their technological innovation
surged forward as well, and by 1923 Ericsson had deployed the workhorse that powered the
exponentially growing telephone networks, the 500 switch.
•
1981 – Mobile telephony
Ericsson launched the first mobile telephony system, NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony) in
Saudi Arabia in 1981. NMT was the first fully automatic cellular phone system, and the
standards it was built on paved the way for GSM and modern mobile communication
technology.
•
1986 – First mobile internet
Ericsson worked with others to develop the first generation of mobile internet. Called
Mobitex, it was technology from Ericsson that enabled this first two-way wireless data
communication. Mobitex was the first wireless network to provide always on, wireless push
email services, as well as being the first public access wireless data communication services
in North America. This was just the beginning of richer information and images sent via
mobile.
•
1998 – Bluetooth
When Bluetooth was invented by Ericsson in 1994 and released to the market in 1998,
devices worldwide were liberated. Named after the Danish King Harald “Blåtand” (Bluetooth)
Gormsson, this wireless technology became the worldwide standard for exchanging data
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over short distances. Ericsson came up with this standard and worked to make it global.
Bluetooth enables mobile phones to connect to portable speakers, cars, headsets, laptops
and tablets, modems, gaming equipment, medical devices and much more. The technology
was cost-effective and robust, capable of quickly transmitting data with minimum battery
requirements, a major defining feature. And not only did the technology enable several
devices to be connected at a time, but devices could connect to each other even without a
mobile phone involved. By 2013, more than 2.5 billion products containing Bluetooth
technology were shipped. Devices can be paired into powerful combinations, affecting the
practices and potential of the industrial, scientific and medical arenas, not just consumer
entertainment. Bluetooth is becoming the standard for the Internet of Things (IoT) and
machine-to-machine communication (M2M), developments in business and society that are
transforming the way we live, meaning a lot more for everyone than simply being wire-free.
•
2009 – 4G/Mobile broadband
Long before the smartphone became ubiquitous, Ericsson helped create the standard for 4G
communication. Not just information, but some of the world’s most engaging and important
experiences could finally stream across the globe at fierce speeds, unlocking a richer life
experience wherever you are. We collaborated with other innovators to create the LTE
standard, and launched the world’s first live LTE network, which with simplified technology
and lower cost, offered faster speeds and more capacity, so everyone could more quickly
have the rich experience they craved. As operators around the world were able to more
quickly deliver the next generation of communications technology, people put their way of
connecting to the world in its hands, doing everything from video conferencing to gaming,
high-def mobile TV to cloud computing, 3D television to heavy application usage.
•
Now – Technology for Good
There is infinite potential in power of technology to achieve good for our planet. Just as many
industries are experiencing full transformations in the way they operate and meet societal
needs, modern technology is increasingly seen as a way to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of sustainable development and humanitarian responses. As a leading advocate of
Technology for Good, we engage every day to address areas such as climate change,
poverty, education, health, and humanitarian issues such as refugees, peace and disaster
response. We have partnered with many organizations around the world to bring the endless
benefits of being connected to the entire global population. This includes our commitment to
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development, a 17-point plan to make the world a better
place, led by the UN and agreed upon by 193 governments. Ericsson also contributes with
more than collaboration and innovation; our people volunteer on the ground to achieve our
Technology for Good goals. For the last 15 years, our humanitarian initiative, Ericsson
Response, has been sending specially trained employee volunteers to over 30 countries to
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address crises and disasters. They provide communications expertise, equipment and
resources to assist humanitarian relief organizations. ICT will bring about scale of positive
change to the world like we’ve never seen before, and we are passionately leading the
charge.
•
Future – 5G
Ericsson is driving the development of 5G technologies together with partners and leading
operators around the world. Like past transitions to next generation technology, 5G will be
much higher performance. This means tremendous flexibility, lower energy requirements,
greater capacity, bandwidth, security, reliability, and much lower latency and device costs.
The full potential of the Networked Society will be here when 5G is rolled out globally,
creating new opportunities for use cases we haven’t yet dreamed of, new markets and
radically new business models, many that include IoT applications. To get there, Ericsson is
leading the charge on all continents to make 5G the new global standard for communication
technology, through our collaborations, partnerships, research and innovation. With 5G, we’ll
have the ability to download a full-length HD movie in seconds, to conduct remote surgery, to
have battery lifetimes exceeding 10 years for remote cellular devices.
•
Future – Intelligent transport
Ericsson is helping the transport industry to reinvent itself. Our connected car platform is
revolutionizing the journey for drivers and bringing major value to car manufacturers, and we
are already playing a part in enabling connected cars to drive themselves. Connected cars
will integrate with public transport and logistics systems, bringing greater safety, efficiency
and sustainability to our roads, railways and cities. Intelligent Transport is becoming a reality,
affecting people and society in cities worldwide, as ICT infrastructure completely transforms
the management and operations of multimodal transport. Ericsson has helped to
revolutionize the way people communicate, and now we are doing the same for the way
people move around our world.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media kits, backgrounders and high-resolution photos, please visit
www.ericsson.com/press
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.
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APRIL 7, 2016
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.
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Ericsson Corporate Communications
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