Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg wants to push into enterprise communications markets, saying he is “not satisfied” with the firm’s present position.
Vestberg told the firm’s capital markets day yesterday that Ericsson was eyeing the cable, TV, healthcare, transport and utilities sectors.
“These are industries where there is a huge need for telecommunication services,” he said, noting that Ericsson’s current capabilities “enable us to address customers also beyond traditional telecom operators.”
“[W]e are not satisfied with our position today and we see new markets to address.”
He said the company’s existing telecom business still offered good growth prospects, but cautioned on the impact of network- and tower-sharing by operators, which will shrink demand for fresh equipment.
The operator environment was becoming more complex as carriers vied for consumers, he noted.
"We will see new business models emerging and so called coopetition among operators, where they will share platforms and build scale together around applications."
He estimated that “at least 1.5 million installed GSM radio base stations,” would need to be upgraded to support mobile broadband. “Less than 5% of the world’s population has access to 21 Mbps or more in the air,” he noted.
Ericsson would continue to invest in converged networks, Vestberg said, predicting that the number of mobile broadband users would hit 3.5 billion in 2015, up from 400 million at present.