August 20 - 4:40pm EDT   Ericsson and STMicroelectronics on Wednesday announced they are entering into a joint venture to make wireless chips and software, effectively becoming a supplier to four of the major five cell phone makers with its products. The recent acquisition of Dutch chipmaker NXP by ST resulted in the company becoming the world's third-largest chipmaker, while Ericsson is the largest global mobile telecommunications equipment maker. [full story]

July 16 - 12:10pm EDT   Ericsson and the Italian division of cell carrier 3 today said they have successfully tested the world's first 3G network based on enhanced High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). The trial of the new service gives uploads to the network at up to 5.8 megabits per second in peak conditions and is faster even than downloads on most existing services, which in ideal conditions would offer 3.6 megabits. The new technology also cuts back dramatically on the lag that hurts video calls, multiplayer games, and other time-sensitive features. [full story]

May 13 - 1:20pm EDT   Swedish telecom company Ericsson is collaborating with Dell, in a bid to put HSPA modems into the latter's notebooks, the companies have announced. HSPA is one of the most widely-used forms of 3G cellular broadband, and typically supports download speeds of up to 3.6 or 7.2Mbps; in the United States, AT&T runs a national 3.6Mbps network, and T-Mobile is expected to offer a rival service of some sort later this year. In buying a notebook with HSPA built in, users can connect to the Internet without using Wi-Fi or an add-on external modem. [full story]

March 12 - 11:10am EDT   Swedish electronics giant Ericsson today revealed that it will already be set with technology that will support new 700MHz Internet access when it becomes an option in the US and elsewhere by 2009. The company says it is already developing chipsets that will natively use the upcoming Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for extremely quick 4G Internet access; the new technology should allow download speeds up to 326Mbps on the carrier's end (20Mbps for each user) while still providing the advantages that come with the 700MHz airwaves, such as longer range and better signals when indoors. [full story]

March 10 - 12:15pm EDT   The end for Wi-Fi hotspots may already be in sight, claims the chief marketing officer of telecom multinational Ericsson. Speaking today at the European Computer Audit, Control and Security Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Johan Bergendahl commented that at least in Europe, cellular broadband is growing so rapidly that it is surpassing any rate ever achieved by either mobile or fixed voice networks. "In Austria," says Bergendahl, "they are saying that mobile broadband will pass fixed broadband this year." [full story]

February 1 - 11:30am EST   Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson is contemplating buying a spun-off Motorola mobile business if it becomes available, company chief Carl-Henric Svanberg said today at an investment analyst conference. The official, whose company forms half of cellphone giant Sony-Ericsson, explained that it would be "cautious" about buying any mobile division that would split from Motorola but that the company would nonetheless watch any services that might be made available. Ericsson has historically avoided buying out other companies because it often believes it would be "better off" improving on its own, claims Svanberg. [full story]