Consumer demands are changing and data traffic is rapidly increasing. Next generation networks are being introduced, and telecom and IT are more interdependent than ever. For operators this means opportunities to innovate and attract customers. The shift creates possibilities for them – together with governments, utilities, advertisers, media companies and other players – to develop new business models and services.

To fulfill the potential of their next generation networks and IT environments, an increasing number of operators are taking an integrated approach to business models, business processes and customer experience. To meet the evolving needs of operators for support and operations for both 4G/LTE and IT, Ericsson is investing further in competence.

Magnus Mandersson, Head of Business Unit Global Services at Ericsson, says: “Our service business is a people business. It has grown significantly over the years, and we foresee that the importance of services will continue to grow. We are sticking to our formula of combining the skills of our service professionals and the scale of our global operations in service delivery, and we are now accelerating the capability growth in dedicated centers.”

Ericsson is taking advantage of its scalability by concentrating its activities in four Global Service Centers located in Romania, Mexico, India and China. Today about 40 percent of all service deliveries can now be made remotely.

Investments in the center in Romania mean Ericsson is set to handle remote operations and support for LTE technology, with a strengthened position as the industry leader in this area. Operating networks on behalf of customers is an opportunity to gather and reuse the experiences gained in the ongoing deployment of LTE networks around the globe.

In addition, a continued focus on design, and integration and management of operators’ IT environments – including IT data centers, service layer, business and operations support systems – has prepared Ericsson for the customer demand in the strategic IT space.

Stephen Bury, Head of Global Services Center Romania, says: “Our Romanian center is staffed around the clock to make sure that our customers’ subscribers benefit from high network availability, call quality and minimum restoration time in case of incidents. Already today we have about 50 LTE service professionals specifically trained to remotely support and operate customers’ LTE networks globally. We also have employees driving innovation and specializing in software application development and remote IT operations for our customers, mainly in Europe. In particular, we focus on areas such as IPTV solutions, sophisticated discount themes and end-to-end content delivery solutions including user portals for sporting events – all to sharpen the user experience.”  

Globally, Ericsson has over 45,000 service professionals working in 175 countries. The majority are working regionally or locally, close to our customers. In addition, Ericsson is working with an average of 15,000 subcontractors at any given time. The combination makes Ericsson well positioned to support customers’ needs for services around the world.