July 9 - 1:25pm EDT   Sprint has signed a deal to hand over daily network operations to Swedish firm Ericsson, according to an announcement. Set to last at least seven years, the agreement will see Ericsson manage services, provisioning and maintenance for CDMA, iDEN and wired connections. Although Sprint is expected to maintain full ownership and control of its network, and operate all aspects seen by customers, some 6,000 Sprint workers will find themselves under Ericsson's aegis in the third quarter of 2009. [full story]

June 10 - 3:55pm EDT   Finland-based Elektrobit has recently demonstrated a cellular-voice-enabled mobile Internet device (MID) known as the Reference Device and based on Intel's next-generation Atom processor, codenamed Moorestown. The device will also sport a special build of the Linux-based Moblin v2 operating system optimized for use in MIDs and with cellular phone support. The EB design was co-developed along with Intel and Ericsson, and will be offered to companies in custom specs. [full story]

May 26 - 10:40am EDT   TeliaSonera has become the first carrier to set up a commercial-ready 4G site based on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Located in Stockholm, Sweden, the tower is part of a larger network that will be ready in 2010 and promises much faster Internet than 3G. Ericsson, which helped build the site, says 4G can reach a theoretical peak of 160Mbps; real-world speeds are likely to be much slower but still above the 7.2Mbps peak of existing 3G. [full story]

May 19 - 4:15pm EDT   Sony today said that its cellphone joint-partnership Sony Ericsson is likely to ask for 100 million Euros ($136.5 million) before the end of its current fiscal year in March 2010. The injection, which could come from either Sony or Ericsson themselves, would be prompted both by Sony Ericsson's own struggling health as well as Sony's own dropping sales, which resulted in its first loss in 14 years and has reduced the Japanese firm's ability to support its phone offshoot. How Sony Ericsson will raise the funds will be decided by the two parent companies. [full story]

May 7 - 10:05am EDT   Sony Ericsson chief Hideki Komiyama today said that his company had made several key mistakes that have contributed to the company's rapid decline in market share. Speaking to FT, the executive now says that the XPERIA X1, once intended as a flagship that would rival the iPhone, is one of these. The full touchscreen Windows Mobile phone was "a kind of experiment" and is no longer expected to carry Sony Ericsson's high-end phone business. [full story]

March 31 - 4:10pm EDT   Ericsson announced on Tuesday that it will demonstrate HSPA data speeds as fast as 56Mbps at the CTIA Wireless convention, which kicks off on Wednesday. The speeds should double those of 28Mbps-capable networks launching in North America, Germany and Italy. At Mobile World Congress in February, Ericsson successfully demonstrated speeds in a similar network operating at a peak of 42Mbps. The next step in the evolution of the HSPA technology, dubbed HSPA+, involves the use of a combination of multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) and multi-carrier HSPA technology. [full story]

March 24 - 5:10pm EDT   A pair of HSPA mobile broadband routers from Ericsson have just passed through the FCC, indicating the Swedish electronics maker will soon release them. The routers consist of the W30 Data Router (left) and the W35 Data and Voice Router (right). Either is capable of allowing access to HSPA, UMTS or GSM network data over a Wi-Fi or Ethernet home networks or share a USB-connected printer, with the W35 adding the capability of sending voice and fax information over the wireless data network. [full story]

March 23 - 3:25pm EDT   The latest in the on-again off-again rumors of a split between Sony and Ericsson in their joint cell phone venture has the Dow Jones reporting that Sweden's Ericsson has no plans to get out of the venture, according to a Monday MocoNews story. Ericsson spokesperson Minako Nakatsuma Olofzon has dismissed the rumors and maintained that its relationship as part of Sony Ericsson is stable. "We are committed to the joint venture... we haven’t changed our view on that," he said. [full story]

March 18 - 12:05pm EDT   German magazine Manager claimed on Wednesday that Ericsson plans to back out of phone maker Sony Ericsson. The Swedish half of the partnership has reportedly brought up a split with Sony, which has "expressed interest" in talking to banks for help buying out Ericsson's 50 percent stake and leaving Sony in full control of the company. [full story]

February 18 - 5:35pm EST   Ericsson on Wednesday announced it will partner with wireless provider Telecom Italia to bring wireless data speeds as fast as 28Mbps when downloading and 5.8Mbps when uploading thanks to HSPA+ technology. Milan will be the first Italian city to offer the fast speeds in June, with a nationwide rollout due for the second half of the year. At the same time, Telefónica O2 Germany has said it will launch its HSPA+ network for cellphones and computers in the second half of the year in Munich. [full story]

February 16 - 5:25pm EST   LG and Intel on Monday announced they will be the first to launch a Mobile Internet Device (MID) based on Intel's next-generation hardware platform dubbed Moorestown and the Linux-based Moblin v2.0 software platform. The Moorestown platform is made up of a System on Chip, named Lincroft, that includes a 45nm Intel Atom CPU along with a graphics, video and memory controller. The platform also has an I/O hub codenamed Langwell that supports wireless connection devices and hosts a range of I/O blocks. [full story]

February 11 - 5:15pm EST   Ericsson on Wednesday announced it will perform the first demonstration of the second implementation of its HSPA+ multi-carrier technology that allows for maximum download rates of 42Mbps at the Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona, Spain. The multi-carrier technology lets users receive data on two frequency channels at the same time, thereby doubling the user data rate in HSPA network coverage areas. Australia's Telstra, Ericsson's partner, uses an early HSPA+ network that allows for up to 21Mbps downloads. [full story]

January 21 - 4:00pm EST   Swedish network hardware maker Ericsson on Wednesday announced it will cut 5,000 worldwide jobs as its profits in the fourth quarter dropped by 31 percent, or about $202 million. The decline is said to be caused by restructuring charges and weaker handset sales, as its Sony Ericsson partnership last week announced its own fourth-quarter losses, shipping 6.2 percent less phones than in previous years. Ericsson said the joint venture had a fourth-quarter loss of $243 million. [full story]

January 15 - 5:15pm EST   TeliaSonera announced on Thursday it expects to become the first wireless provider in the world to offer the next-generation 4G mobile broadband network to its customers. The company is on course to launch the service in Stockholm and Oslo in 2010, partnering with hardware maker Ericsson for the initial 4G city network in Stockholm and Huawei in Oslo. Talks with suppliers for 4G-ready devices in other Nordic and Baltic countries are currently in progress, TeliaSonera's Senior Vice President and CTO, Lars Klasson, adds. [full story]

December 11 - 4:20pm EST   Sweden's telecommunications giant Ericsson announced on Thursday it is working with Intel to equip mobile broadband module-equipped notebooks with secure anti-theft solutions. The solution is meant to make stealing notebooks less attractive to thieves and protect data with encryption software. The concept, identical to the recent Lenovo solution recently unveiled, involves users sending an SMS message to the notebook's mobile broadband module that will trigger Intel's Anti-Theft function built into the processor platform and locks down the system. When the notebook is recovered, another message can restore the system to its operational state. [full story]